Tired of grudges? Meditation for 6/2/14

Awendaw; SC

“Expectation is the seed of resentment.”  - Anon

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”  - Zig Ziglar

      We often hear the “glass half-empty or glass half-full” expression, and although it is a good expression regarding maintaining a forward-looking gratitude, it is only a part of the equation when it comes to being effective in this moment.  Another crucial element is to “play offense” rather than “defense” when it comes to struggling with our emotions and our inherent weaknesses.  What I mean by this is to engage in positive action rather than try to avoid negative action. 

     One of the great mysteries of life to me is how we manifest the very things we fear, and it happens on the individual level clear up to the global level.  For instance, if my motivation in getting into a relationship is that I fear being viewed by others as unlovable, then the relationship I start is probably doomed before I start it.  I subconsciously develop an expectation that my partner in this relationship is going to make me appear to be lovable to those around us.  Of course this is impossible, and the net result is anger and frustration welling up that I can’t even pinpoint the source of.  The same holds true if I get a business partner because they will make me successful, a car because it will make me look affluent or any other thing I latch onto with the expectation that it is going to do for me what I am unable or unwilling to do for myself.  Further, if we are actively trying to avoid something it is almost as if it becomes a magnetic force that inadvertently attracts us.

     The alternative to reacting to fears is to engage in behavior that gives to others the opposite of what it is that we fear.  If I fear being unlovable, I need to give unconditional love to others.  If I fear not being understood, I need to actively engage in understanding others. If I fear being ignorant, I need to teach.  If I fear being abandoned, I just need to reach out to those who are isolated and lonely.  If I fear being impoverished, I need to help others become successful.  Reacting to our fears will have us sowing plots of expectations, and the resulting seeds of resentment bear bitter fruit regardless of how well we tend to them.   But giving away what we desire brings it back to us in abundance- every time.  Love > Fear, without fail.

Today may I take positive actions.

Happy Monday !!

David

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