IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO WALK AFRESH
“We act out of
courage; we react out of fear.”
Aegelis Sophizo
An
emotionally-charged mind doesn’t think rationally… Objective thinking – based
on reason – is possible only when emotions are kept under check…
Our reactive
behaviour is a classic example. When we react from anger, hatred, envy, fear
and insecurity, it’s not a rational behaviour… It stems out of our loss of
self-control. The instinctive, caustic comments we make about others only leave
us exposed… not others.
Well, when you
read what I have just said in the two paras above, it’s highly possible, that
you may wonder, "What an enlightened soul this man is!”
I wonder, too.
But, thinking, why, despite knowing this truth, I have not been able to stop me
from ‘reacting’ for every ‘silly’ situation, all my own life!
Yes Sir, between
our ‘knowing’ and ‘doing/practicing’, there is a ‘space’… Just as between the ‘stimulus’
and ‘action’ there is…
Like many that read books or listen to people who impart such wisdom, I, too, have read many
books and listened to many people, telling me about the presence of this 'space'… in which lies my precious freedom of choice. So, my problem has
never been the lack of knowledge; my problem has, always, been the ‘lack of implementation
of this knowledge’…
Like many around
me, I, too, have reacted more than it's necessary. Invariably, I have done it assuming, that
I could control how situations should unfold or people should behave before me…
But, the only thing I have been able to control has remained this: My own
reactions to the volatile situations and people in my life. Fuming, fretting,
blaming, accusing, worrying, trying to settle scores – yes, everything I have
done so far, through my reactive thinking, has only caused harm to me… Not to others.
True… I have ended up drinking this poison, hoping that my so-called ‘oppressor’
would die!
Wasted years?
Late realization? Too late?
Even the answer
to these questions needs me to step back, pause – and, then respond…
So, the answer I
get from the ‘pause’ - that ‘sacred space’ - is this: There is no wastage in
life… It’s never too late to realize and start afresh. If these little moments
of my daily life are well-spent, by reacting less, I think, that is enough… I
will be better equipped to deal with the next moment… then, the next… then, one
more…
Every
morning, I see this young girl doing her walk. She is plump and wants to lose her
weight. But, throughout her walk, she is preoccupied with her mobile phone. She
is known to me; and when we cross our paths, we greet each other ‘Good Morning’.
Today, I gently said to her, “Friend, you need to leave your phone when you step out
to walk… focus on your body, your breathing… feel the gentle breeze on your
shoulders… feel the touch of caring Earth beneath your feet… watch the awe-filled
Nature… You need to walk mindfully.”
The young girl,
respectfully, tucked her mobile phone inside her pocket, took an instant reverse
turn, and started walking alongside me… We didn’t speak any more thing. Probably,
both of us needed silence more than any words, any knowledge… Probably, that’s
the only way, we both could ‘see’ that ‘sacred space’ between what we ‘know’
and what we ‘do/practice’…
I can’t say,
that I will never, ever react … I am not a stone. But, I can confidently say
this: Whenever I do, I will change the course of my walk, the way the young
girl did…
This morning, the young girl only reminded me, what I needed for my own self… My own mindfulness.
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic’s: Pixabay
Videos: BKShivani
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