Monday, June 20, 2011

People are Seriously Grumpy

In an effort to bring more joy into my day to day I spent last week focusing on (amongst other things) creating a sense of inner calm and peace. I was really surprised by one of the consequences. Until I started to practice not being at war with myself I never really noticed how angry, impatient and totally disturbed most people are. Take an hour and just listen to the people that surround you. It does not matter if you are at home  or at work, or somewhere neutral like a supermarket. Even better, take an hour and listen to how you speak to other people....now take the time to notice how you speak to yourself ?
How many of the conversations you hear are about what is not right, what is wrong, how the individual concerned is being done in by someone (it always seems to be a conspiracy) ... or how someone else is an ignoramus and should not be allowed oxygen?
As a culture we seem to be rude to people without thought, coming from a place of righteous indignation - a place where it is ok to treat someone in a way that would horrify you if you were at the receiving end.  This is a  place of no tolerance and even less love, a place where people deliberately waste your time and are deliberately incompetent.... a place that never sees the other person as someone who loves, feels and perhaps hates having to answer a phone to be berated and belittled by yet another annoyed customer.
The more I watched the world around me the harder I found it to maintain a sense of inner calm and peace. Each word became a torrent of ‘violent’ energy that was intent on assimilating me. I found myself becoming as angry and discontent...
Do we really have a right as individuals to do so much judging of other people ? Do we really have a right to expect them to live to our standards ?
Are we really so blind to who we are being that we don’t see ourselves becoming what annoys us in others?
I have to say that I am left with a large dose of disappointment and a feeling of complete futility. As a species humankind seems to be irrevocably lost in unconscious being that fosters hate rather than kindness and acceptance.  Yes, I know...that is a judgement in itself. We are all on our paths living what we need to live in order to learn what we need to learn....only somedays ... somedays I want to shake people and say wake up, smell the roses, snap out of it! Then on other days I wonder if it is really worth it ? Is it possible to make a difference? What is the point of even opening a door, most people won’t see it and if they do, can’t be bothered to find the energy to change and step through it.
So I think for today I will go back to creating inner peace and calm. I have a feeling the answer is there, inside me.... that it does not matter who you choose to be or what energy you choose to put into the world. It only matters who I choose to be.... so I think today I will smile at random people and tell them how beautiful they look today...and maybe, just maybe... they will let go of some of that anger.





2 comments:

  1. Could so relates to this, I am actively practicing this daily in my connecting with people all over the world where sometimes cultural challenges get into how we interact and real patience, understanding, empathy, tolerance and listening come into it, This weekend I started out really focused on inner calm and it would seem that was like sending out a challenge to the universe to test this and I found that practicing this under stress is extremely difficult and based on my personality profile coping with incompetence becomes a real issue and immediately triggers my anger mode, but I hear you and think that doing this is a big test of mastering oneself... One great outcome was when a lady in the bathroom came out of the cubicle and she'd just finished her shift and was changing out of her uniform, she couldn't zip up her dress the last little bit and I walked over and did it for her, the smile and thank you was really great as well as her surprise that I had helped her, I then enjoyed the utter surprise and horror from the other ladies in the bathroom that I'd helped someone of a different culture... yes we are wrapped up in unconsciousness and narrow mindedness... its a long road but awareness is the first step to enlightenment :) xxxx

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  2. I wonderful practice that I learned from a dialoguing friend, Tom Mazur, is living in the unknown. I have found that continually reminding myself that I don't *really* know what the thoughts or motivations of that other person are has allowed more compassion to arise, and far less annoyance.
    Keep blogging, V!

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