Calm Is A Beautiful Thing

“Mindfulness is recognizing that we are becoming angry because we are running late, and then recognizing that we can choose instead to be calm and running late.”

 

A situation occurred recently that generated an immediate angry and hostile emotional response within myself.  Fortunately I immediately recognized it for what it was.  Mindfulness kicked in and I thought to myself, “I will not allow myself to feel this way”.  Mindfulness took the emotional out of the equation and I was able to deal with the situation in a calm way.  Unfortunately for me I don’t respond like this 100% of the time.  We cannot control how other people act or what happens to us.  What we can control is how we react.  One of the goals of spirituality, mindfulness, and self-awareness is to become impartial observers of our own behavior and reactions.  I try very hard to have a Buddhist approach to life’s challenges by responding to them rather than reacting to them.  This is easier said than done, especially if you are a gut type personality like me who has anger issues.  One thing I have learned the hard way is that my overreactions to people and things around me just makes me more upset.  For me calm is a beautiful thing.  On the surface I usually appear calm to most people but inside I am a whirling dervish of mixed emotions.  Recognizing this about myself, and slowly learning to catch myself before I act out, greatly improves my well-being and happiness.