The Dalai Lama says to ‘be kind whenever possible. It is always possible’.
I’m really trying to practice that at the moment. My good friend got together with somebody I had a grudge against recently, so I had to swallow my pride and try and be nice, after over a year of animosity. She made it easy. In fact, I enjoyed her company. I felt nice after that because, sadly, I haven’t done anything like that before. It made me want to get in touch with a whole bunch of people and say ‘let’s call it quits’. I will certainly try and wipe the slate clean with a few people where petty arguments have turned into something disproportionately horrid. Not that I have a whole load of enemies, but it would be nice to just wipe the slate clean. It takes up too much energy being mad.
While yoga and exercise have certainly helped me chill out in the last few months, I still get very stressed out about one thing in particular. Hmmm… thinking about it, there are a few things that make me mad. Time for another list? I think so:
1. People not listening to what I’m saying. If you want to see me go nuts, talk over me during an argument.
2. People disguising Islamaphobia or other racism with patriotism.
3. Voluntary ignorance. Whether it’s racism, sexism, or whatever, there is no excuse if you had access to a good education.
4. Pistachio nuts that don’t have a slit in the shell. Just annoying.
The thing that’s worrying me, and most regularly interferes with any calm I might be cultivating is negativity. I wish I knew how to stay happy and positive when you are surrounded by people who have nothing nice to say. I feel like negativity works through osmosis. My office is very depressing, and some people don’t have a nice word to say about anything. Little by little the negative energy seeps in, and by Thursday afternoon (now), I have to listen to yoga mantras (or sometimes the excellent British comedy Peep Show) on a loop to save my sanity and serenity.
I don’t think an outsider would notice per se, but my mood totally flattens when all I hear is stories about stressful scenarios or malicious gossip and remarks. I really wish I knew how to stay happy and kind through this, or even better, to turn the situation into a positive one.
While yoga and exercise have certainly helped me chill out in the last few months, I still get very stressed out about one thing in particular. Hmmm… thinking about it, there are a few things that make me mad. Time for another list? I think so:
1. People not listening to what I’m saying. If you want to see me go nuts, talk over me during an argument.
2. People disguising Islamaphobia or other racism with patriotism.
3. Voluntary ignorance. Whether it’s racism, sexism, or whatever, there is no excuse if you had access to a good education.
4. Pistachio nuts that don’t have a slit in the shell. Just annoying.
The thing that’s worrying me, and most regularly interferes with any calm I might be cultivating is negativity. I wish I knew how to stay happy and positive when you are surrounded by people who have nothing nice to say. I feel like negativity works through osmosis. My office is very depressing, and some people don’t have a nice word to say about anything. Little by little the negative energy seeps in, and by Thursday afternoon (now), I have to listen to yoga mantras (or sometimes the excellent British comedy Peep Show) on a loop to save my sanity and serenity.
I don’t think an outsider would notice per se, but my mood totally flattens when all I hear is stories about stressful scenarios or malicious gossip and remarks. I really wish I knew how to stay happy and kind through this, or even better, to turn the situation into a positive one.
No comments:
Post a Comment