Upon Reflection

I just got off the phone with a good friend who is a New Thought minister.  It was a catch-up conversation and covered a wide range of topics. The best part of the experience was the ability to see the perfection in everything. All those things we label as good/bad, easy/hard, happy/sad, uplifting/challenging.

It most likely was so powerful because earlier in the day I had another conversation with another friend that followed the same theme. How does the universe express itself to us? Why do some people annoy or disappoint? Why must we be challenged or disliked by fellow humans? How do we compare ourselves to others?

We are all mirrors reflecting back to each other. We love when we can bask in the reflection of love and appreciation. Not so much when our “poor” behavior is ricocheting back at us. If someone is being especially irritating our usual go to is to take umbrage and clasp our pearls in horror at their boorish behavior or stupidity or cruelty. Judging others is fun and fundamental to most of our lives. It is so much easier than seeing the behavior in ourselves.

I find the view in the mirror of life a bit easier if I take a step back and allow myself to see how this experience is beneficial to me in my own life. Life is about balance. The positives with the negatives. The ups with the downs. If you are in a difficult work situation and you perceive that others are attempting to destroy you or ruin your career, take a moment to look at the situation from a different angle. How are you threatening them? Or what are you threatening? Then look at all the places at work where you are appreciated and rewarded. It is too easy to see only the negative. 

Most of us are off balance. It is a phrase we use along with imbalance and out of balance. We are living in our one-sided stories which are created through our one-sided perceptions and then fueled by our values and beliefs. The more we can step outside of those stories the bigger our world becomes. It is not supporting chaos or anarchy any more than it is justifying cruelty. Just the act of recognizing the balance is enough to allow each of us to take the deep breath we need to reevaluate our reaction. It is not condoning, but rather analyzing and reordering our energy in the situation.

Sometimes when we stop pushing, things fall into place. It is not so much the loss of control but rather the ownership of what we actually control. In the end that is simply our reaction to the event.

Life can be a lot larger when we open up the vision and take away the judgement, fear and anxiety. It is all an illusion, so stop paying so much attention to the person in front of you and take a good hard look into the mirror. You’ll like what you see if you look a bit deeper.