How easy is it to get upset, irritated, disappointed or sometimes angry about little things? Maybe you spilled a cup of milk, stubbed your toe, got angry at the tailgater behind you in traffic or got annoyed at your puppy dog for chewing your shoe or the cable to your smartphone.
Maybe Aunt Martha gave you a rough word or two or rolled her eyes at you. Maybe your co-worker was rude to you that day and didn’t bother to smile or say hello.
It happens to the best of us… unless you are a zen master who has practised calm and mind discipline! Sure, it can be tricky to stay cool, calm and collected in situations that can trigger a negative emotion. But with any skill, the more you practice it, the better you get.
What helps is to keep the big picture in mind. In those quiet times of contemplation, feel positive emotions like gratitude, kindness, love, acceptance, fun, appreciation and happiness and build on them so they become more and more of who you are. We all have things, people we love or experiences in our lives that we can feel gratitude for.
With repetition of these positive emotions, you will find that you won’t come across situations that irritate or upset you so often, and even if you do you will be able to handle them much better.
The reality is that all of this is easier said than done. Understandably, it’s easy to back into old habits and even after a lot of practice, you don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere. But stick with it and keep practising. It can be difficult to change habits, especially when they are emotional (because of their intensity). Just like learning to play an instrument takes time, repetition and patience. Treat yourself, your mind and your emotions like an instrument you are just starting to learn and keep at it until you get good at it. After all, the better you can control how you react to things, the better your life will become. As we know through science and other fields of research, we create our good luck or bad luck, just with our thoughts and feelings alone. Doesn’t it make sense to stay calm and be in control of your emotions, as well as guide yourself to think and feel higher?
Image by Nicholas_Demetriades from Pixabay
