I'll give you an example.
In my house we have a water pitcher that lives in the fridge.
A familiar narrative is going to fill your glass,
only to find the pitcher empty.
A typical response is:
"WTF? Who didn't fill the water pitcher?"
Followed by aggravation, irritation and finger pointing.
I wish I could say I was innocent in this endeavour,
but it's just not true.
Getting ready for that cool, filtered water,
only to be disappointed to find it empty.
Frustrating right?
The energy that comes along with trying to find the guilty party feels like shit honestly.
I want someone to answer for this atrocity!
And unfortunately, it always spreads through the house like a virus.
Finger pointing ends up being an ugly negative cycle.
I know, this example sounds silly.
But the narrative can be applied to so many things.
Fill in the blank with whatever your recent irritation.
Getting cut off in traffic, trying to find a parking spot, or bigger life events.
Most often, the guilty party is ourselves.
We are always our own worst critic.
With this narrative of finger pointing, we get to blame, we get to be the victim.
We get to be pissed off and justified.
But what if we instead explored understanding?
What if we put ourself in the other person's shoes?
In my water pitcher example, this would look like stopping and thinking for a moment, I wonder what was going on with the person who didn't take the time to fill this. Maybe they were hot, tired and ready to take a load off after a long day. Maybe the sink was full and they didn't have room, maybe it felt like too much at the time.
If we explore understanding, then compassion arrives shortly after.
And compassion feels way better than irritation and anger.
Compassion is heart based. Anger feels head based.
So, how can you explore understanding and compassion?
With your family?
With the person that cut you off?
How about the biggest one- YOURSELF???
Let's stay heart centered friends.
Seeding the world with compassion.
XxOo,
Jen
Comments