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by Sheri Rosenthal
You’ll often hear don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four
Agreements,” saying
that our emotions are the key to our personal
freedom. Wise words! You might be asking why our emotions are so
important to our freedom. I’ve observed in my many years of
teaching, how often folks don’t acknowledge what they’re feeling
emotionally. When I ask them how they’re feeling they say, “Things
are fine,” or “The usual.” Yet, when you ask them if they got
upset or frustrated today, they’ll say, “Well yes, this morning
with my husband,” or “When the dishwasher repair man came to the
house,” or “When something was not typed correctly my secretary.”
So what’s going on here? Why are we ignoring the most important
tool that we have for our personal growth?
Multiple opportunities present themselves to us daily to grow and
learn, yet we’re too asleep to see our emotional reactions for
what they are. If you’re not aware of when you’re having a
fear-based emotional reaction, you’re allowing your personal power
and happiness to drain away from you without even realizing it!
A warrior lives by challenge; meaning he perceives everything as
an opportunity to learn. Whether he’s observing the way he talks
to himself when he’s waiting on line in the grocery store or
sitting on the toilet with constipation – it doesn’t matter
where the opportunity comes from, a challenge is a challenge! We can
learn as much from the way we victimize ourselves on the toilet when
we’re constipated as we can during an argument with our partner.
We can only shift and change within the context of our
challenges, not just by reading books and attending workshops. Yes,
we can have “ah-ha’s,” learn tools and techniques, meet new
friends, and adopt a belief system that is kinder to us than the one
we currently have. But what really makes the difference is what
action we take to make those insights become practical applications.
I encourage you to take advantage of all that life is gifting you in
every moment. Stop throwing away these opportunities simply because
you choose non-awareness over personal freedom. If you chose to see
your emotional reactions to frustrating events as opportunities for
transformation, rather than believing that “s-t happens,” your
life will change.
Take a moment right now to think about how you perceive the
events of your life. Do you see challenges as inconveniences? If you
do, this could be a great time to shift your point of view.
(Remember - the way we perceive our lives is a choice and everything
is just a point of view!)
There’s one thing I know for sure about this reality. “S-t”
never happens to us, we’re not victims; let’s break that belief
right now! Life works on the basis of action-reaction. So take
action right now based on clarity, rather than your programmed
reactions and you’ll be on your way to a blissful life,
experiencing joyful emotions rather than fear-based ones.
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