Day Momo (Des Moments) August 1st-15th
For years I was told: “Joe, you have such a positive attitude! You’re such a positive person!”
Maybe.
Someone at a café in New York City shared this with me again. I appreciated it. It’s good to know I don’t have a negative attitude towards others.
That said, it got me thinking to earlier in my life about people’s perception of my positive attitude. A lot of that was just on the outside. I was felt different on the inside.
Along with my positivity, would come streaks of negative thinking, disappointment, and frustration.
My positive feelings, as well as my frustrations were always based on one constant: Outside factors and circumstances.
My positivity was based on positive projections in the future. It could have been a promising investment or a new business opportunity. Maybe it was good news to look forward to at my job. Maybe it was a potential new relationship with a girl I liked.
Positivity would pour out of me. There was a sense of excitement when something great was on the horizon.
Until…
It didn’t happen, or I screwed it up.
The new investment opportunity went south. I lost money. The good news at my job never materialized. The relationship with the girl I was excited about didn’t work out.
Disappointment, negativity, and frustration would set in.
Time healed. These negative feelings would slowly dissolve. Then, the loop continued. External outcomes had me feeling alive and well. Some were met, other outcomes weren’t, which lead to the perpetual disappointment.
As I’ve traveled over the last 12 months, I’ve become more aware of this cycle. I’ve worked on my internal compass. I’m trying to be less susceptible to mental/emotional highs and lows based on circumstances and external factors.
Whether something good or bad happens to me, I’ve tried to remember to say, “This too shall pass.”
“This too shall pass.”
This prepares me for external circumstances. They might be good or bad, but they will always arise. It helps keep me humble when things are going really good. It calms my mind, when things don’t go my way or I start to feel anxious.
This is the practice of awareness and acceptance. This is the practice of non-attachment.
I’m still practicing. A lot.
I will continue to pursue future goals. I will continue to grow and try to achieve. I try to pursue these external things with a non-attached mentality of “This too shall pass.”
Dan Millman, in his must read book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, said: “I finally had released my expectations that the world would fulfill me, therefore my disappointments had vanished too.”
There is something deeper at work here than positivity based on external circumstances. It’s an inner sense of self that is completely immune to whatever happens on the outside. This gives me inner peace. I can feel a little closer to this when I remind myself of the saying, “This too shall pass.”
Joseph Campbell said, “The wheel of fortune has 2 places you can be on. You can be on the rim, always going up or down based on circumstances. Or you can be the hub, it remains in the center at all times, regardless of circumstances. Find your center.”
Remember, “This too shall pass.” It’s your center.
Related posts
