In the course I’m taking, we have now gone from recognizing habits to stress management. And that is a topic that I’m sure everyone needs help with in their lives right now. But first I’ll digress to the habit that I decided to deal with in this course.

Months ago I decided that I was spending too much time on social media. I stopped scrolling. Next I started unfollowing friends. When I go on Facebook I check out the expat and travel groups I belong to. I check out the writers groups. I tell friends that they need to DM me if they post anything important as I don’t scroll. And I’m now at a point where I follow only a handful of the six hundred friends I have on Facebook. I also dissed Instagram and Twitter long ago.

But the habit I’m focusing on now is cutting back and watching the news online. Talk about stress! Is there anything going on in this world right now that comes close to resembling positivity? Between the wars going on, the politics, the food recalls and the crazy weather………that’s a real cocktail for stress. But the big one for me right now is Boeing.

Door plugs, blown out tires, planes freezing in midair, cracked windshields, missing panels………I can hardly wait to board that flight back home in two weeks! I’ve almost forgotten the days when I used to enjoy flying. Now it’s just the most efficient way to get from point A to point B and it is far from enjoyable.

This is my new strategy. I check my newsfeeds in my email every morning. And when I’m online, as tempting as it is to click on that little news button, I’m limiting that as well. And I’m only reading the headlines. If it’s another article about a plane with a malfunction or an emergency landing for sure I’m going to ignore it. I’m determined to keep my cortisol levels down.

Of course watching the movies on Lifetime may help my Spanish but probably increases that cortisol level. The movies are primarily labelled as thrillers and my Spanish vocabulary now includes words such as stalking, harassing, kidnapping, hostages, nightmares, killers and sexual assault that tend to show up in daily newscasts around the globe but that I hope will never be a part of my own daily life.

Time to meditate. Peaceful. Tranquil. Calming. Think I’ll envision an ocean and billowy clouds today.