The world can be a very scary place sometimes––recent events illustrate that point well enough. Shootings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and all kinds of awful and terrible things seem to be happening on a semi-daily basis. The news on every television and radio station blares about it, day in and day out. The newspapers print giant headlines talking about the latest atrocity on planet Earth. Dinner tables and diners are wrought with discussion on where everybody stands on how to deal with this disaster or that war. It feels like, no matter where you go, there’s something waiting to pop up at you and remind you that something is going wrong somewhere.

But we as human beings can’t take that kind of stress. We just can’t. I’m no neurologist, but the psychological damage that results from having so much anxiety and worry can’t be healthy. That’s to say nothing of the spiritual damage––even the strongest faith or sense of purpose in the world can be shaken by constant bad news. And we all know the physical hazards of prolonged stress––deteriorating heart health, high blood pressure, unbalanced digestive systems; nothing good happens from this never-ending stream of catastrophe.

So what can we do?

We can cut ourselves off. Completely. Not forever, of course, since you can never get away from everything for too long. But it’s possible––recommended, I would say––to turn the world off for a few hours at a time, just to remind yourself that not everything is bad.

Here’s the thing––centuries ago, the best form of communication, and therefore the spread of news, was by physical post and messengers. If a massacre happened in England, nobody in Spain would know for a month or so. For the most part, not many people in Spain would even care, or even be impacted by it, so most people would never even know. But advances in communication meant advances in news, and soon every household had access to word from across the world, and eventually we got to the present where we all get every byte of news from around the globe at the speed of light. Which is incredible, but like I said––when it’s all bad news, it’s just not healthy.

So we need to re-learn how to be isolated. We need to remind ourselves that a time existed before smartphones, the internet, television, before radio or the telegram. We don’t need to hear what’s going on in every corner of the planet at all times. We can go awhile without all of that, and just exist where we are, in the moment we’re in. Then, once we’ve centered ourselves and regained our grip on the present, we can dive back into the fray.

So find yourself a sanctuary. It can be anywhere. A park, the woods, a library (away from the newspapers and magazines), your house––anywhere where the news isn’t being reported and you don’t have to listen to people chattering about it. Turn off the phone, log off of the social media, keep away from the news channels on television and radio. You can use your electronics if you want, of course, but remember that the point is to be away from the world for a bit. Play some video games, watch your favorite shows, listen to some music and dance a bit. Read, write, do whatever you please. Just do something to remember that even though you can learn anything about anywhere anytime, you can also just do something here and now and enjoy it.

Catch your breath. Find a happy place. Remember that life is too short to spend it all surrounded by doom and gloom. The grand crusade of making the world a better place is a noble calling, but even making a single smile makes the world a better place––and your own smiles are included.

Besides, how can you make everyone else’s world happier if your world isn’t happy?