by Michal Rosenbaum and Kimberly Thomas
The time I spend standing and waiting is an interesting time. Sometimes when I am standing and waiting, I find my mind wandering to places that are filled with frustration and anger, it is easy to do, there is so much of it around us that we are literally steeping in it.
This is the time when I try to remember that everything happens for a purpose. There is spiritual energy in every situation. I have a choice to go down or a choice to go up. Since I am committed to higher living, the choice is easy, to go up. To eschew the negative energy that is flowing around me and to focus on the positive.
This is about practice, the building of a new habit to address negative thoughts.
For me the practice is a simple act of reframing. For some it may be a matter of changing focus. It takes time for this deep change to take place. The goal is to replace the negative thought. When a negative thought arises, I stop myself and ask: what is the benefit of this situation? Others may choose to completely replace the negative thought with a new, unrelated thought – for example: stop focussing on the loud lady behind us and focus on the flowers on a nearby tree.
The goal is to replace the negative thought with a positive one. This takes practice. The brain is like a muscle and it must be exercised to learn new paths.
In every situation that I am in I can grow from – I focus on learning what is troubling me and figuring out what I can learn from the situation and how I am feeling. When I am making these observations, it makes space for positive thoughts to come in and help bring me to a higher place.
So the next time you find yourself standing in a line, chafing at the time spent, try looking for the positive in the situation. It can make the experience a better one.
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