Tired of being agitated? Meditation for 1/23/14

Savannah GA and Hilton Head SC, both  taken at sunset tonight from Daufuskie Island

“Guilt has quick ears to an accusation.”  - Henry Fielding

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”  - Aldous Huxley

     We all have made a suggestion before to someone who is dealing with a problem, and people usually take the suggestion or leave it.  But if a person is unwilling to face the problem they are actually dealing with – if their identity is tied up in the fact that the core problem cannot be the problem – we witness a violent reaction.  Like the alcoholic who refuses to see the central problem and spends much time and effort addressing symptoms or blaming circumstances, it can be painful to watch someone avoiding an issue that could be resolved if they would just be willing to acknowledge and address the true problem rather than symptoms of it.  We cannot be of use to people in this state until they are in enough pain that they are willing to face the underlying issue, but we sure can learn some lessons for our own use.

     If we receive a suggestion, hear a comment that something is true or are criticized we typically consider it and either incorporate it or let it roll off of our back.  But what of the things we hear that we find ourselves responding quickly and over-emotionally to?  Just as the fact that the behaviors in others that bother us the most are usually ones we secretly harbor,  that which brings us quick anger points the way to our deepest self-ishness – fears, pride, etc.  It is a spiritual fact that every time we become irritated, angry or disturbed the problem lies within us because only we can create disturbances within ourselves.  In the long run, it saves us much grief in life to review immediately those things that disturb us.  Each one we identify and root out is one more thing that can’t sabotage us again.  The alternative is to continue to be vulnerable to circumstances defining us – our state of mind being tossed about to and fro and at the mercy of other’s accusations and life’s circumstances.  Yes, we need to pause whenever we find ourselves agitated, but we need to utilize the pause to pinpoint what anxiety within us causes us to be disturbed.  With each correction we make there is one less thing that can sabotage us again in the future.  And before long, we find ourselves in possession of a much greater degree of poise and serenity.

Today, may I recognize growth opportunity

Technical difficulties kept me from being able to post this until this morning.  My apologies to those of you who count on these being there each morning.  Have a great Thursday anyway !!

David