“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
We are spiritual beings having a human experience. As human beings we are going to make mistakes. Hopefully we learn from those mistakes. I practice the ideas and concepts I present in this blog, but I, like everyone else, make mistakes. I will share a recent experience. I was going on a trip and I had a CD that was maturing on the Friday before I left. So, I called the credit union and after 20 minutes on hold, I decided to go in person on Wednesday. I met with a nice agent and told him that I wanted the money to go into my savings account when it matured. He said he took care of it and everything would be moved to savings. I checked the account online on Friday, but the money was still in the CD. I checked again on Sunday and saw that the money had moved, YAY. But, the money had not moved into my savings, but into a 12 month CD - BOO. Once again, it is a lesson that I am not in control. My initial reaction was frustration, I was leaving early on Monday morning and couldn't go to the credit union to deal with the situation. I wanted access to my money and didn't want it tied up for another year. After being aware of my initial reaction, because as we know awareness is the key, I decided to surrender and go with the flow. There was nothing I could do on a Sunday, so I took a deep breath and let the frustration and anger go. I continued packing and doing all of the last minute things needed before the trip. All was fine until I went to bed. I did my nightly practice of giving gratitude for things in the day and settling in for a good night's sleep. Then, that little monkey mind remembered the issue with the credit union and the anger and frustration crept back in. I don't know about you, but once my mind gets going, it goes on the warpath and I was getting madder and madder about the situation. But, then I became aware that I was spinning out of control over something little in life. I practiced present moment awareness and decided that in this moment lying snug in my bed that everything was perfect. I decided I had a choice I could be angry and upset and have a terrible night sleep prior to my vacation or I could let it go. I chose to let it go and took several slow deep breaths and did a body relaxation technique where I started with my feet and relaxed them and moved up up to my ankles and relaxed them, and the up to my calves and relaxed them, and so on. I never made it to my head as I was asleep before I got there. Making the choice to let go afforded me a good night sleep. When we are aware, we can make conscious choices, sometimes I choose to be angry, but most times these days, I choose to let things go and go with the flow and things usually turn out fine. If it doesn't turn out fine, then I I deal with the issue then, but try not to waste too much energy living in my head before I can actually deal with situation. I called the credit union at the airport and the new agent found one step the first agent missed and the problem was solved. So all of the anger and frustration I had was wasted energy. I wanted to share that I am human and I wish I would not have let the situation bother me at all. But it did bother me, luckily I was aware and put practices into place that minimized the level of negative energy. Hopefully, I can learn from this experience and let the next little bump in life not impact me at all. Think of a recent minor situation that made you angry or frustrated
2 Comments
Mary Ann Brewer
1/19/2016 09:58:56 am
Your CD situation and reaction is what I have wasted much of my life doing and it is so much better to know that I don't have to choose that reaction. Reminds me of the book I read many years ago "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff." I should have taken it more to heart. Realizing we are not in control really helps. Surrendering to that realization helps even more. Thanks for sharing this experience because it helps remind me to breathe... remind myself that I am well in this moment. Mostly breathe. I look forward to others joining in and learning from what you have to share, Peggy.
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Peggie Thomas
1/21/2016 09:24:58 am
Thank you for sharing this experience. There are so many little things that want to take front and center stage, especially at night. What a good reminder to stay in the moment and choose an appropriate reaction.
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Peggy Steffens is an artist and Chopra Certified Meditation Instructor My goal is to build a community with like-minded individuals who want to grow, share and learn from one another. Please post comments to enrich the experience for all.
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