With so much information available, it is easy to get passionate, emotional, and worked up over things these days. There are so many different emotional avenues to choose from. Knowing when to get off a crazy or strange detour is critical though. After all, you don’t want to run out of energy, travelling down a road of no return, or heading to an unhappy ending.
Some say life is a journey down a path. Native Americans refer to this path as the Good Red Road. Imagine that path is like a tree. You are born, that starts your path, this is the trunk of your tree. As you get older, life supplies the branches of learning. I think of the learning branches as side roads, exits, rest areas, detours, pot holes, bridges, and tunnels. The way home can only be found on the main path, the trunk.
Taking life’s detours, and weaving on and off life’s main path, are life’s learning lessons. Finding your way back to the main path after being on a detour, is also learning a life lesson.
Guilt, anger, shame, jealousy, are some of the exits, detours, and side attractions we encounter throughout our lifetime. Staying attached to negative feelings that come with these negative side roads, speed bumps, and distractions, attracts the negative energy back to you, trapping your thinking in a negative loop. This fascinating 2015 article about negative thinking from the Huffington Post, featuring Eckhart Tolle, was updated in 2017, but still rings very true today:
When you find yourself off the main path, do a U-turn and break free from the negative loop. Instead of using energy on negative thinking, and staying in a loop of negativity, energy can be focused on staying on the main path. You can think of life's main path as a balancing beam. The balance beam can be a daily goal. Wake up on the balance beam. Strive throughout the day to stay on the balance beam, and before bed, be on the balance beam. Another link to help with watching, and controlling your thoughts:
Life doles out many distractions with its side roads and detours, all of which can be handled gently if energy is focused on the goodness in the travels. Learn from the bad, and cherish the good.
The minute you recognize the negative thought, it brings it to light, helping to see it more clearly for what it is, negativity. That moment of recognition is the opportunity to diffuse the negative thought and allow the sunshine in.
I use a few mental games when I catch myself caught in a negative loop, or negative thinking. One of the many jobs Mother Earth provides for humans is she neutralizes negative energy. So I imagine my negative thoughts being cleaned out of my head like dandelion seeds blowing in the wind. The negative thoughts land on the Earth and are neutralized, unable to spread any further negativity.
Another exercise I do, is I imagine I am sitting next to a stream. I see leaves floating down the stream, and I notice the leaves are carrying negative thoughts. Do I want to pick up a leaf with a negative thought? Do I want to give the negative thought energy to thrive by focusing on it? Or do I allow it to pass by and find it's way to the ocean to be neutralized by Mother Earth where it can no longer do any harm?
Keeping life on a even keel is challenging enough. Life is constantly changing, so everything in life is constantly changing. Changing with, and accepting the changes, is a challenge. It seems some people go through life without much effort, while others struggle deeply. Either way, everyday is our opportunity to have faith in the lessons life will teach us. Do we feel lucky to get the opportunity to do our best everyday, or are we scared to face life's challenges? I try to keep that in mind when I get lost in the negativity of the moment.
Think positive thoughts and positive energy will follow you through your day.
Carpe Diem!!!