“How does this serve you?” he once asked of me.
My teacher was a sweet old man, short of stature but great of heart. His questions were like riddles designed to enlighten and reveal.
He smiled again with toothless grin,
“How does this anger serve you?”
It was the first time I had ever considered my ‘role’ within the context of an emotional upset. More specifically, it reinforced the capacity of mind to create the conditions my heart was so desperately seeking.
I wanted to be free of my anger, and yet – I gripped it tightly like a treasured amulet.
We have such an attachment to our emotions, as if a child born of our own blood. How dare anyone challenge their ‘goodness’ or ‘rightness’? After all, our emotions could never do wrong…
Right?
The truth is, we tend to become lock-stepped validating the legitimacy of our emotions, rather than looking deeper to determine their much broader meaning.
Our minds are continuously shifting and sorting. Some call it logic, others – simply ‘noise’. We feel we’re doing justice through this external examination. Though sadly, in doing so, we miss the opportunity to ‘connect.’
Is it any wonder why stillness has such difficulty manifesting?
“Be still and heal” reads the calligraphy hanging upon my wall. The words are those of the venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, and are intended to guide our attention to these subtler complexities of life.
In our stillness, we can set aside our restlessness and worry. We can begin to silence that inner voice which keeps us so helplessly tethered to our pain. Though, more importantly –
We can begin to understand and grow.
“We have to trust our spirit in the way we trust our body,” he shares. “Our spirit has the power of self healing if only we know how to allow it to rest.”
We have to learn to let our spirit heal, my loves. And, each time we feel the flinch of reaction – we must ask ourselves:
“How does this energy serve you?”
A little something to consider on this day, my loves. Our choices define our interrelationship with this world, but more so – they shape the context of our being.
Much love ~
Namaste <3
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