By Ed and Deb Shapiro: No one thought Donald Trump would win the election, so when he did
it naturally threw many people into fear, outrage, sadness, and confusion.
Life is very unpredictable and causes varied emotions and mind states, many of which are extremely challenging and difficult, even unbearable at times. Imagine the mind is like a beautiful garden. If we let a pig in our garden we will have a hard time getting it out, as pigs really like tasty gardens! In the same way, negativity is like a pig that gets in our garden and causes havoc. Fighting fire with fire just adds to the negativity and creates further uncertainty.
If circumstances can’t be changed then we must change our attitude toward them—we can’t control the wind but we can adjust our sails. We either blame others or relax into each moment as it arises. When we’re with the way things are in the present moment then we’re free of confusion, and that freedom is our peace.
Chaos is natural—when we look at the world it is everywhere—yet we can find our sanity in the midst of this. Like water in a lake, when our mind is calm and peaceful we can see the depths below, but when our mind is disturbed it’s easy to get caught up in the turbulence. Beneath fear or grief there is steadiness, inner stillness, independent of the circumstances.
This means seeing clearly so we can let go, all the time, constantly, in every moment. As soon as we hold on, whether to resentment, anger, bitterness or fear, our mind gets caught up in the emotion and we lose our steadiness. Letting go doesn’t deny our feelings. They come and they pass.
All things come and go, all things are impermanent; we can’t cling to anything, not even pleasure, as it doesn’t last. Integrating the truth of this is wonderfully liberating for it brings us back into the present moment. If everything is impermanent, including our feelings, then there’s no point in grasping and trying to make those feelings last longer. Rather, there is far greater joy in connecting with sanity.
When we are kind to ourselves, as well as kind toward the person we are having a challenging time with, then an extraordinary thing happens: the pain within us begins to dissolve. This means there is nowhere for the negativity to take hold of or to land.
By embracing kindness, we strengthen feelings of self-empowerment, worthiness, and value. Extending kindness to our adversary is like turning compost into roses.
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Ed & Deb are the authors of many books. Deb is the author of award-winning Your Body Speaks Your Mind, now in 21 languages. They have three meditation CDs.
