Each day I wake up and I stare at this computer until my eyeballs want to fall out of my head.
I am a Graphic Designer. I love what I do, I go to work in sweats, messy hair, and eat abundantly. The fridge is only a few feet away. I get paid to draw, paint and create some pretty cool things. We work on globally reaching projects and get to blast the music all day, everyday.
Being an artist has its pitfalls though. We are sometimes over emotional wrecks. It’s that part of me that makes me good at what I do that also drives everyone around me insane at points (including myself). One thing I noticed about myself and the world, is at times we both can be very cynical, pessimistic and even down right negative. You’d be surprised how many forms negativity hides out in. Anger, fear, rage, dread, jealousy, resentment, confrontation, complaining, bickering, arguing, gossip, depression, anxiety, nervousness, war and judgment. All these feelings are something we all feel on different levels in our lives at different points. Some more than others. Each person will gravitate towards a few. They are kind of made up truths we tell ourselves internally that is just completely self deprecating and poisonous to us. It all boils down to 1 word. Resistance.
When we resist or anytime we are negative we do not accept the present.
We go through great suffering when we do not accept what it is happening in the now. We resist most of the times because our egos tell us that if we resist hard enough, through this resistance we can bend reality to what we want. Well its obvious that makes little sense, and definitely does not work. Trust me I tried. Think about this, your ego, the mind that rattles on and on in your head at times. The thinking mind, he / she thinks… it can get what it want’s by wanting it to be another way, If it wants hard enough it has a chance to change it. Did you get that? It’s obvious it believes it works that’s the only logical explanation our minds do this. It’s one of the strange idiosyncrasies of human beings. We have a mind that has an identity. No other animal on the planet thinks the way we do. We are blessed with a great mind, but it also can work against us if we are not careful. Do you know that we are the only species on the entire planet that resists living with the nature and earth that sustains it? We resist everything, from change, to life, to death and mourning, from greenhouse gasses and negligence of the earth to war and abuse of power. If we don’t resist some of us don’t feel alive.
There is hope though.
One of the greatest things about negativity that I recently begun to understand is that it can also be used for good. If you think of negativity in this light it changes its meaning.
it is there to alert us that we aren’t on track.
It’s the little annoying younger brother all wound up on chocolate, acting like sponge bob in your mind. Always around to put you down or any number of ways he plans to wreak havoc on you. You can use it as an internal alarm system. Anytime any form of negativity arises in you, use it to sound your alarm. Breath, take a few breaths focus on what your currently doing. Whatever that may be. Right now it would be reading this blog post. So whenever your little mind or little brother in your head acts up, ring your alarm.
Given this information our duty is to remember every time any spark of negativity comes about, sound an alarm in your brain. Jump up and down. Well maybe not jump up and down you will look like a nut. But in all honesty moving your position, even if its shifting your weight and thinking another thought can have a profound change in your emotional state. Use that alarm to let you know to STOP, and be totally present in the now, without any judgment of any thing around you. Just be. This is how zen masters live, Zen is about living in the now. The past is gone and it no longer exists, the future is forever fleeting and is never coming. The only glimpse of the future we will ever get in this lifetime is right …this….moment. Cherish life, your friends and everything around you. Live in the moment, that is our duty or at least that is mine so I can stop staring at this computer screen until my eyeballs fallout.
5 Comments
Agreed — “negative” emotions are something to bounce against, like a ball hitting a wall. Don’t get stuck there.
ari
Great post, and I love the image you’ve used here. I like your idea I’ve read similar teachings regarding the LoA. If you are experiencing negativity then you are not setting out the right vibrations and focusing on the wrong things.
I’m not a fan of the LoA but anything that makes peoples live more positive is a win in my book. Just don’t get too focused oon using your negativity, just don’t have any negativity
@ Ari
Absolutely! Much agreed.
@ Glen,
Thanks, I too have read a bunch of books about LOA, from the Secret, to some of Joe Vitale’s books. I believe in it somewhat. I do feel you get out of the world what you project. Having no negativity in ones life is the end goal, however when faced with reality and the issues around you often sometimes it’s inevitable not to become stressed or negative. As I said in my post negativity is not only about being pessimistic mean or outright negative. It disguises its self in many forms. Even self doubt is negativity. But yes I do agree that we should all strive for the absence of negativity. However I look at it as if maybe there is a place for negativity. Just like there is a place for pain as a reminder to our body something is wrong. Negativity is a brain reminder to let us know something is wrong fix it fast. Just as there can be no light without dark, there can be no positivity without negativity. there can be no Yin without the Yang.
People usually focus on the mental and hopes it transgresses over to the physical.
I have a couple of simple approaches that I feel are refreshers.
Shave: oddly refreshing to me
Shower: I feel like its more than just showering. Its time for my mind to flow freely and not worry about things. Not only cleaning myself but cleansing my soul.
Coffee/Favorite beverage: I have a weakness for McDonald’s Iced coffee. I’ve taken a stand to not overindulge and am perfectly fine eating simply, but when I feel down sometimes its just good to treat myself. It feels good. Plus my stomach has gotten me into much more trouble than just simply eating.
Chris
@ Chris,
It’s funny you say that about shaving. I read a book called the code of the samurai, it says that a samurai shaves every day as a grooming ritual. It prepares them for the day ahead and if they must die. Hopefully I won’t have to ride into battle with my TV set or any thing else of the sort. I agree shaving makes you feel different. Haircuts do the same for me.
My grandfather was in the army and he said the first thing you do when you wake up is shower, sh!t and shave. It prepares you for what lies ahead.
Coffee, I would be a sweaty mess after a few sips. Has such a harsh effect on me, however my indulgence is Swedish fish! Boy, I can chew the whole bag until I get a headache!