In The Breath Before Reacting

 

The mind has the ultimate power to create, innovate, and thrive no matter the circumstance. You always have the election to focus on what is wrong or what is right.  You alwayshave the choice to hold onto resentments or forgive, moving onwards and upwards. 

Erin Fall Haskell

Christmas shopping is not going perfectly for me. lol I just got notice that a parcel I ordered for D. weeks ago, his gift, was cancelled.  It was like Yikes!!! Less than five days.

The amazing thing about this though is that I caught myself as soon as I felt the twinge of resistance in my gut upon first encountering the event-_--which was the reading of the email.  The "Oh No!" had already slipped from my lips but I heard it as merely a conditioned reaction and I did not fall into its trap. I just watched what was happening inside me and I did as Haskell suggests we do...take a deep breath between the "stimuli' and the " response to the stimuli".  That breath is what the Toa may refer to as the "breath of vacancy", what Tolle refers to as "presence".  It offers what Michael Singer in the untethered soul would refer to as the stilling of the  pendulum.  

Though we are conditioned to...we do not have to drool with every bell that rings. There is that spacious presence that exists between what Life presents on the outside and what the mind and body does with it.  It is in that space where we want to be. 

So I breathed and I asked myself , "Being that you have a choice here...how would you like to respond to this event?  With resentment, fear and sadness or with peace? "

I chose peace.  That one breath between the stimuli and the response gave me the opportunity to choose something different than ego reactivity. It also gave me the opportunity to change the trajectory of my thinking. If I staid in reactivity, I would have followed my mind  down a dark, panicky hill very fast. I would have felt like crap and in the long run...whether you believe this or not...my outside world would have presented more crap to me.

When I changed the focus from "Oh man another punch from the Universe" to "Oh wow!  Another lesson from the Universe." ...I didn't get resentful, upset...I was grateful.

My reactive thinking could have led to a snow ball effect of looking for memories and instances to prove how the Universe was against me...and I would have been left feeling like a powerless victim but instead, with this awareness and desire to choose differently, I immediately began to look for solutions. And D. might just get this gift for Christmas afterall. If not...he will get a picture of it and he will know it will be coming in shortly after Christmas. 

I know for certain, I am not the only individual out there effected by the complications of shopping on line during a pandemic. 

Beyond our control people...we need to just let it go.

(Excuse the typos from this imperfect being :)) 

All is well!