Dear friends,
A friend shared that she had a willful six-year-old son. He almost always wanted things exactly his way. One morning he was quite anxious for the day to get started, but when he awoke he realized it was still the middle of the night. Not to let such a small impediment stop him, he went to the top of the stairs and yelled for the whole world to hear, “I want it to be day!!” Suffice it to say, the rotation of the earth did not accelerate to meet his demand.
This is a very amusing story and is likely to have brought a smile to your face. But are we so different? We laugh at little children who yell at the movie to warn the hero of the bad guy hiding around the corner, but do we not spend all day yelling at the movie in our heads? (Sometimes out loud, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt here.)
“How could they have done that?” “Why do I hit every red light when I am in a hurry?” “If only people were kinder.” “What was he thinking?” On and on it goes. By the time lunch hits we have probably yelled at the movie a good seventy-five times or so.
It has been my experience that what we do mentally is no more effective than the little kids shouting in the movie theater. We laugh at them, but do we laugh when do it…? Reality—bully that it is!—tends to win every time. We must be practical in our idealism. That starts with accepting reality for what it is. Once we can learn to accept the world around us as it is, then from that position of calm centeredness we can do what is realistic to change things for the better. Accepting reality is by no means passive. Try it and you’ll see that it is not easy! It takes great energy and determination, but it can be done. Once accepted, the mind clears, wishful thinking is banished, and we can see a path towards changing the unfortunate circumstance. Or we quickly see that it simply cannot be changed, and that our wishing will not make it so. In either case the heart eases.
Compassion is a better response than annoyance. When someone does something that would ordinarily be disturbing we can think, “What must their life experience have been that has them react in such an off-putting way? I am blessed not to be caught in that mental trap.”
May we each see the world around us as an unfolding and complex story, filled with twists and turns that seek to amuse and educate us. Let us find the joy or the lesson in every experience we face.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the Gang at East West