I teach from The Pocket Pema Chodron in my weekly meditation class and I love what she says about aggression. We are all guilty of being overly charged and emotional, but what happens when the question is posed: Am I going to add to the aggression?
Pema writes, “Every day we could think about the aggression of the world, in New York, Los Angeles, Darfur, Iraq, everywhere. All over the world everybody always strikes out at the enemy, and the pain escalates forever. Every day we could reflect on this and ask ourselves, “Am I going to add to the aggression in the world?” Every day, at the moment when things get edgy, we can just ask ourselves, “Am I going to practice peace, or am I going to war?”
I see this play out in my life often. I ask myself, “am I going to be the kind drive that let’s someone go first, or am I going to be the person who hangs my head out the window and give the finger?” I usually try to be the kind one, because what I’ve learned is that anger in like a hot ball of destruction the spreads from one person to the next. If I give you my venom I’ve potentially ruined your day (or at least a few hours), which in turn makes you give mine and yours to someone else, and on and on. When you look at it that way, isn’t love a much productive vibration to spread?
Today, set the example. Practice peace in every situation that comes your way.
Love, Light and Laughter!
I needed that, cause these people at the DMV were gettin’ on my nerves. Very useful blog, thanks.