Thinking us into peace

I've been listening to too much news (the horrific kind) and reading 'a peoples history of the united states' and so to counteract the negativity, i went to an empty church hall and talked out loud.

I usually avoid news sources, but occasionally i feel like i'm ignoring bad news, so i delve into it. It leaves me feeling awful, so i soon go back to my way of being happy and content by visualizing the perfect world and taking steps to helping actualize that world. I've already made it clear in previous posts how i try to do that, i think.

But today i asked, what am i supposed to do with this information? When i get my news from facebook, i have gotten it to a point where i only receive updates on ecovillages, articles on green movements, and obama singing sweet home chicago. When listening to the news on the radio or tv i hear about two year olds getting shot, an ex boyfriend strangling girlfriend at uva, and the death count in libya. And i wondered, is this a flaw in the characteristics of humanity? My inability to be moved to action to rectify something so far away? My concern and mission revolves around the people i interact with, and my aspirations are to do what i love and bring joy and helpfulness to others around me. And i won't travel to libya.

So how can i help? My theory is that if people were content and happy there'd be no fighting for power or resources. Naive and simplistic, perhaps, but I can't afford the mental resources to dig deeper than that. So with that in mind, one thing i can do is to start an awareness campaign on how to be content and happy. Its not that difficult to practice, yet it seems many people don't practice it... A lot of people are unhappy. I rarely see happy people. Then again, i'm on the east coast on the outskirts of dc. People get happier when you go west, because for some reason they practice contentment. Its a practice, and i haven't completely mastered it, but here's what it is (so far, in a nutshelll)

1. At least once a day, make it a habit to think about things you are grateful for, or things you ought to feel grateful for.
2. Move and exercise
3. Eat healthful foods. This will make you love your body and eventually give you real energy and you won't rely on coffee. You'll also get sick less.
4. cultivate friendships and maintain connections. If you keep showing up regularly, its bound to happen.

As for cultivating a world of peace, there are certain outlooks that if you cultivate, will naturally expand to the rest of humanity. If you disagree with any of the following statements, then your belief is contributing to wars around the world.

1. Humans share common needs, desires, and capacity for creativity.
2. There is enough for everyone (therefore, i have enough and can afford to give more)
3. a fulfilling life for me can be helpful and beneficial to others and does not need to be competitive
4. I do not have to suffer to be helpful. I can be using my strengths and talents to do what i love, and it is contributing to the well being of others.
5. If humans have food, shelter, connection, a beautiful environment, and time for creative pursuits, that is sufficient for happiness. An accumulation of wealth has not shown itself to be satisfactory.

These are all thoughts that contribute to peacefulness. Even if you have issues with the statements, you can agree that its a nice reality to live in. We choose the reality we live in every moment. Most of those choices are habitual, but we can always decide to change the way we experience reality.

So thats my contribution to the attainment of peace