It’s hard to ignore world news.

While I want to know what’s going on in the world and pay attention to current events, I don’t like focusing my energy on negative things. As you know, most of the information being reported on any news channel is negative. Especially when something big happens such as the tragic events in Brussels.

Negative news is everywhere: the TV, radio, internet, and social media. There’s no escaping it.

When my kids were younger, I had to make a conscious decision to keep the nightly news off because I didn’t want to scare them or cause them anxiety. It’s hard for kids to hear about a suicide bomber who goes into a movie theater and kills innocent people, the bomb that goes off in a hospital, the kids killed while at school.

Now that they’re older, I don’t try to keep negative news from them. Plus, they’re on social media all the time and usually learn about events taking place before I do. This is the world they’re growing up in. Even though they’re older, I try to pay attention to how world news impacts them.

Because it does.

When a terrorist attack occurs and the event is all over the news, it has a profound affect on our kids. Don’t think it doesn’t. When the attacks in Paris occurred, we talked about it as a family, just as we discussed the recent events in Brussels.

My kids always ask this question, “Mom, if this happened there, could it happen here?” And, we all know what the answer is.

It could.

“Does this scare you?” I asked Zoe, who is sixteen and very aware of what’s going on in the world.

“How could it not,” she said.

The question is, what do we do with this knowledge? How do we live our lives knowing anything could happen to anyone at anytime? How to we pay attention to world news, but not let it stress us out and cause us anxiety? What do we tell our children?

I’m not going to lie to my children. They’re too smart and will see right through me. They understand that I can’t promise they won’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Unfortunately, I can’t lock them in a box.

I try to explain that the probability of them being a victim of a terrorist attack is minimal, and that they can’t live their lives worrying about what might or might not happen.

As with anything, we have choices: we can choose to worry about things we can’t control or we can live our lives, fully and intentionally, not taking one day for granted.

When we hear about tragic events that occur in the world, like what just happened in Brussels, it’s a reminder to me, and I hope to my kids, of how privileged and blessed we are to be alive.

Find meaning each day,

Dara

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