When The World Gets You Down

By: Stuart Knight (Founder and CEO) | September 23, 2026

One of the dumbest things I do (and there are many) is read the news before getting out of bed each morning.  It’s a detrimental habit I’ve formed since having children, and is one that I see as a little “me time” before I enter the boxing ring that others refer to as getting ready for school.  It’s funny, because I know that choosing to read the news directs my attention toward a realm of destruction and despair, and yet like a toxic relationship I keep going back.

Subconsciously I must believe that on any given day it won’t be that bad, and in fact, I should be commended for my effort to be abreast of the world situation.  To be fair to myself, I think there’s a grain of truth to that, as I don’t think it’s wise to be ignorant of current events, even if those events don’t make me feel good.  However, it would be remiss of me to not admit that reading about wars, corruption and the general unfairness of life might not be the most positive way to start my day.

I probably justify it by thinking that if I don’t “get on it now”, another day will pass, and I will have fallen behind on the big topics people are paying attention to.  I suspect that you understand what I’m talking about as I’m guessing you jump into the bleakness of it all at various points throughout the week as well?  And let’s keep in mind that I haven’t added in the fact that much of this bad news is compounded by the algorithm of our chosen social media platforms feeding us more of anything we stop to look at for even a millisecond.  It’s like roadkill on the highway.  You glance at it as you drive by and now the machine thinks you must also want to see it in your driveway, backyard and kitchen sink!

And let’s be honest with ourselves.  It’s overwhelming, distracting and unhealthy.  More to the point, it’s unsustainable.  I say that because I’m beginning to see it as a “death by a thousand cuts” situation.  Can I handle the news about another celebrity’s child overdosing on drugs?  Can I get past the pain of seeing images of bombed out buildings?  Can I watch the latest politician manipulate the truth by harnessing the power of public relations?  The short answer is yes, but I now know that it’s only for so long.  

Even those with the strongest constitution will eventually fall.  No matter how strong the dam may be, if you chisel away at it for enough years, it’s just a matter of time until a crack appears and the water dripping through will soon cause a collapse.  And this is where I find myself lately.  I’ve noticed that although I’m still functioning normally, performing my duties as a parent and still delivering speeches from the stage, that the world has slowly begun to get me down.

It seems like everywhere I look I’m being pounded with information that makes me feel like we are headed toward the dystopian destination I thought only existed in Sci-Fi movies.  For the first time ever I’ve wondered, “could it be more than just a plotline?”  To that point, the other day, after dropping my daughter off at school, I noticed a guy in his early twenties wearing headphones with the words “Fuck Off” written on the side.  Upon seeing this, it occurred to me that at some point in the past this guy found himself either choosing to buy headphones with these words, or that he chose to add those words himself after making the purchase.  Regardless of which choice he made, I couldn’t help but feel sad.  Then, would you believe that three hours later my sadness only deepened when a completely different guy walked past me on the street with a T-Shirt that read “Fuck You”.  

Needless to say, I didn’t float through my day with rose coloured glasses after that.  Now, before you feel the need to reach out and have an intervention, I can assure you that I’m not standing at the edge of a cliff as I write these words.  I’m just trying to convey feelings I’ve noticed popping up lately, and the lessons they are teaching me.  Thankfully, being a student of self development helps me quickly notice when the scales become unbalanced, and that it’s time to take action.  

For me, the simple solution was to detox from the negativity. I realized that maybe I don’t need to read the news every morning, or scroll through instagram before going to bed or bring up the grim and gloomy during my conversations with others.  Perhaps I can take a moment each day to remind myself that never in the history of time has life been so good for humanity.  I could remember that today people live longer than ever before, there are less wars compared to the past and we are on the brink of eradicating certain diseases that have plagued us for centuries.

At the end of the day, it always comes down to a choice.  Will AI save us or ruin us?  Will politicians continue to lie, or are more of them waking up to a higher consciousness?  Will greed and power forever rule the world or will people one day see that it never leads to happiness and want to make a change?  I have the power to choose one thought over another, and recently I noticed that I was leaning in the wrong direction.  What’s great is that choosing differently can happen in a flash, and today I’m deliberately leaning the other way.  And what a difference it makes when you do!

If you find yourself in the same spot from time to time, just know that when the world gets you down most of the people on the planet are trying to lift it up.

Much Love,

Stuart

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