How do we keep our calm in the face of 'crisis'? When the world seemingly turns on its head, how to we keep ours? The one thing we can depend on in life is change - nothing stays the same. Just as sure as we have seasons and fluctuations in weather, life will not remain at a 'constant'. As human beings, we take comfort and solace in the 'known'. When it feels as though the rug has been pulled from under us and we're faced with uncertainty and the unexpected, we can find ourselves in inner turmoil, possibly dealing with anxiety or a level of fear - this is especially the case with the current situation the human race finds itself in right now. We would do well to consider how our personal experience is created. How does anxiety, upset, depression and the like manifest? Is it coming from external situations, 'out there', or is it coming from within us? We are always experiencing our thinking in any given moment. Our feeling state is dependent on the dialogue we hold in our minds.
Liberation
Everything outside of us is neutral, but for our thinking about it. Consider the weather. Some people will feel miserable when it rains, whilst others live in a place of drought, willing for a downpour and grateful for the opening of the heavens. What about spiders? Some individuals are scared stiff of our multi-legged friends, whilst others keep tarantulas as pets. So how can either rain or spiders be intrinsically 'bad'? We will feel about a situation the exact way in which we think about it and what we focus on grows. So, if you're viewing an external situation as 'wrong', heaping more and more negative thinking onto it, you will have less than positive feelings about it, but if you look at the same situation with a level of detachment and neutrality, or even have positive thinking about it, you will find yourself in a calmer place.
We do not realise how much control we have in our lives. We are not at the mercy of the external - rather, and I reiterate, we are always bringing to light that which we're thinking about. If you're having 'negative' thoughts, you will feel 'bad' and conversely, if you're thinking 'positively', you will feel 'good'. Test it out - when you're in a less than pleasing feeling state, become aware of the thoughts you are holding in your mind and when you're feeling upbeat or happy, again, consider the thinking you have been running through your mind. We are thinking beings, always filtering the outside world through our thoughts. This is the way human beings experience life and make no mistake about it, you always have choice with regard to that which you hold in your mind. You may not be able to control the first thought that pops into your mind unannounced, but what you choose to do with it (hold it hostage with your attention, thus shining a light on it and giving it more 'life' with your energy and focus) is well within your control. If left alone, thoughts will pass through our minds like clouds in the sky. It's the grabbing onto any particular thought that allows it to hang around. You are not your thoughts, you are the observer of them. They are not you. As I say, test it out - whenever you find yourself in a feeling of upset, disappointment, anxiety or the like, or even when you are feeling 'good', bring awareness to your thinking and become conscious of the dialogue you have been running through your mind. You will see that your experience is dependent on the 'flavour' of your thinking and in this knowing, you can choose to hold on or simply let them go. It really is as simple as that. Life is an inside out job - you are the creator of your experience. Good or bad? It's whatever you think it is.
Liberation by Emma Eker is out by Spiffing Covers on 28 January.