At some point in your day you will probably hear or say the following: "He/She makes me sooo mad", or "Those people are idiots!", "They are going to ruin everything!" - a constant stream of negative vibes from the TV, radio, our co-workers and families. How do we turn the tide? How we do change this current reality of anger, frustration, and hate that seems to bombard us from every direction?
The answer lies within and is much easier said than done. There is still beauty, kindness, and peacefulness in the small things that are all around us every day. If we want to see those things we have to first close our minds to the negative - refuse to participate in the current emotions of the 'mob'.
Focus instead on the quiet places inside and reach out to those quiet places in the people around you.
Talk about a favorite food, a shared hobby, ask about their families or find out the names of each others pets. These are things that can bring us together, help us find the common ground that always has been.
We can put away the anger and the divisiveness - and replace it with strong bonds that build friendship and community. This re-focusing.. away from the TV.. away from the political.. is not easy but it can be done. We will find that we are all different enough to make it interesting but the same in more ways than we had realized.
"The vibrations of violence or peace do not come from outside. They come from inside. In the beginning there will be resistance. Tell your thoughts to "get out" and be firm just as we tell children. So we tell our mind what to do. But it is easy to tell others. It is much more difficult to tell our own self." http://www.jainmeditation.org/pages/jaindharma.html
