Stubborness
How are you stubborn in your life? Most, if not all, humans beings are for it is a part of the survival mechanism and can be very useful in certain circumstances, but detrimental in others. It often comes from seeing the world in “shoulds” and “should nots” and feeling chastised by them. Stubbornness is often borne of childishness.
Let us explain. There are certain ways of being that would be in your best interest. Certain ways of eating, exercising, communicating, working and interacting with society as a whole. These are simple things and reasonably broad yet at some point they are going to feel like they are constraining you. The moment you begin to feel constrained you will begin to resist because it feels as though “free choice” is being taken away. Now you MUST or SHOULD do this thing.
It may not be particularly horrible or difficult or unpleasant, but it is not your first choice or for that matter your choice at all. Now sometimes you can make yourself go along and do it as that is the best course of action even if it is not your chosen choice. Other times you resist slightly and/or postpone the task or the inevitable. Other times you, for no particularly good reason, just dig in your heels and say, “No, I am not going to do that.” Today we are asking you to look at this trait.
Let us take diet and exercise as the examples, for this is a prevalent issue in your society. Knowing what to eat is reasonably simple. The diet should be well balanced between vegetables, proteins, fruits and other carbohydrates. All things in moderation is best as well. There is no one prescribed diet that is best for everyone, each must listen to their own chemistry and learn what makes them energized and what makes them lethargic. Occasional sweet things are not “bad” for you and even perhaps an occasional celebratory drink is not that harmful. Now please look at what you eat.
Do you eat consciously? Do you eat to your best health and welfare? Do you choose foods that will enliven and energize or do you choose foods that anesthetize you? Is food your drug or is it something that you stuff into your body to keep it quiet?
Next comes exercise. Your body is a finely tuned machine in many ways. If you kept your car parked for weeks on end and did not run it regularly, would the spark plugs fire cleanly each time you started it up? Would the engine turn over right away? Would the battery hold a charge? Well, without some sort of daily stretching and movement with purpose your body is like that car sitting in the garage. It is just sitting waiting. It has enormous potential for speed and distance, but it is not being maintained through use. We are not saying to go out and run a marathon or climb a mountain, but we are suggesting walking, swimming, stretching and other mild forms of movement that keep things in the body flowing.
Now, what does this all have to do with stubbornness? Think about it when next you decide to eat something that is not serving you or when you choose to sit and watch TV or work on the computer rather than taking a 10 or 15 minute walk or swim or stretch. “Oh I don’t have 15 minutes!,” we hear you cry, but we ask you to again look at the time you spend at computers or on the couch and then tell yourself again that you do not have the time. How stubborn are you being?
We leave you with love and ease.
Namaste
