The Stool of Wisdom

Pardon the pun in the title, but It comes from a goofy place in my heart. May you not get the imagery that comes with the title. ;)

The key element of being human is that our lives can be full of drama. Unlike animals, we tend to act/react to events created not just by others, but circumstances created by our own selves as well. 

And, when this acting/reacting reaches a tipping point, then, most definitely, Sh*t happens! 

The trouble with human nature is that we have come to expect sh*t to hit the ceiling every now and then, but never accept it.

I guess that's what the day 4 of this gratitude quest intends to do. To name the negatives of your life's journey and accept them and thank them, takes courage. Takes a special sense of letting go of bitterness, resentment, anger, disappointment. 

But, you know I have a different take on this day. These instances are negative only in the context of our societal structure, not for me anymore.

I'm pretty sure someone reading this would say, boy! is this guy for real?? No one's this positive! 

And I am not either, I go through my set of emotional upheavals. I most definitely have gone through negative sh*t in my life, just like every other human being on this planet, dead or alive. It is what I chose to do with it. Like I said in my previous posts, taking the pause is important. It gives you time to reflect. So when I read todays task I did just that. I had to rummage through my whole past to see what are these negative things that I am now grateful for. But, along the line I realized that I am going about it the wrong way. I couldn't find anything negative in my life, because, now, on hindsight, everything happened to place me where I am today. And, isn't the whole concept of being grateful just that. How can you be grateful for something and still think it's negative.

It is said that, when the Buddha came across, Angulimala, the dreaded serial killer of his times, who had killed 999 and Buddha would have been his 1000th, The great Buddha didn't see the murderer, even when he was dissuaded by the world around him to not approach him, he saw his soul, that needed to be saved. 

Of course I know, we are not Buddha's, but we sure have the potential to be one in smaller acts of kindness to ourselves, when we encounter such Angulimalas (metaphorically speaking), when we go through negative experiences in life that end up killing a bit of our peace of mind. 

So, the first step I take is, take the title away of negativity from any experience. See the positive gain from it, or if I cant see it at that moment, step back and leave it to time and see how my life unfolds. It has not disappointed me so far. I understand it is difficult. The intensity of overwhelmingly negative events varies from being to being, but it is no match in front of the intensity of the strength of our positivity. If we see ourselves in a good light, it will reflect on everything around us. 

Then how will anything be negative. It won't! 

I always keep in mind, that happiness is like a diamond, I know it is there and all the experiences good or bad are just layers hiding that diamond. My eyes are set on the diamond and not the layers.

That's That!!