One of my favorite practices is to watch versus reacting.
Today at the store, I observed interactions between different people. Versus reacting to anything the people said or did I simply observed both the individuals and my projections or perceptions of the experience.
Life genuinely gets easier if you observe and release versus reacting to people. Life becomes more difficult if you react without thinking. I enjoy observing because simply watching people and your judgements of these individuals helps you see that the mind largely creates illusions based on fear, judgment and projection.
I am no Blogging Buddha. I cast a shadow. But I do a decent job watching my mind. Observing my mind allows me live more from Love and less from fear.
Most people live from an energy of fear. Simply watch the news. Do you see what I mean? Living from fear guarantees that your life becomes chaotic. Observe how most people react to life. Something happens. Instead of observing the event and their feelings triggered by the event, most people anger, react from an energy of fear and cause problems for themselves.
Traffic Trouble
Yesterday during my morning cardio I observed such a scenario. My wife and I went for a walk at a beautiful local lake. Everything seemed calm. As I walked back to the car, I noted an individual pointing towards a group of people on the other side of the canal. A man and his family seemed irate. The man yelled at the dude across the canal.
Turns out, the dude on our side of the canal parked his massive truck behind someone else's car. Of course this was ignorant and rude. But in the same breath, the reaction from the individuals boxed in became just as rude.
Imagine if before boxing in someone, the guy with the big truck mindfully and compassionately observed his self-centered ways and simply parked 30 feet from the parking lot to avoid the situation? Imagine if being boxed in, the man and his family took five deep breaths, relaxed, and either called the cops to tow the truck or decided to give the guy 5 to 10 minutes to return to his truck and pull out?
Cooler Minds Prevail
I have no idea of how the situation unfolded. I simply moved on. But such circumstances often result in strong verbal altercations if not physical skirmishes.
I have lost my cool too. But it has been a while because I watch my feelings versus reacting to my feelings much more these days. My cooler mind usually prevails.
Expand your awareness. Sit with your feelings. Try not reacting to anything or anyone. Watch. Observe. Feel the strong emotions arising in your being. Something neat happens. The feelings arise then dissolve. This is the beginning of calming your mind. This is also how to develop peace of mind.
The mind creates stories fueled by ego. Watch the stories. Let the stories go. Live more from your heart versus reacting from your mind.
The quality of your life will improve immensely while you inspire folks to live from energies of harmony and compassion.
