It’s been a busy week so far for me: a little too much Doing and not quite enough Being 🙂
However, I still have had time to observe my own behaviour as well as the behaviour of others, and that is where I found the inspiration for this week’s ponderings.
The week started with the common occurrence of Newark fast becoming gridlocked: as I turned out of my drive I could see that the A1 had come to a standstill and instantly I could feel a slight irritation rising. I chose to drive the other way into Balance and naturally was met by queues as most others had had the same plan.
My first chance to be ‘Offended’:
offended with the fact that this happens on a regular basis,
offended by the fact that our town planners chose not to join the bypasses, thus making more congestion,
offended that the rail crossing has now been automated, someone has lost their job, the lovely old building remains empty and will no doubt be pulled down, the barriers also have to now stay down longer causing more congestion,
offended that Newark has so much to offer and the traffic puts people off coming into our lovely town,
offended that the traffic congestion might put my lovely clients off wanting to come to their Pilates classes,
offended that cars all around me were getting impatient, driving too close, trying to urge me forward even though I have nowhere to go,
offended that I probably won’t have time to shop before work now,
offended that I had planned to send a few emails before the first class and now time would be short,
As clients arrived we all started being offended by the traffic, the council, the crossings, people’s attitudes and on and on it went.
After my classes, I thought back to the morning’s start and thought to myself how many of us – I include myself in this – spend our lives almost looking, wanting to be offended? How many of us in our conversations are complaining?
We complain about the weather, traffic, politics, family, friends, business, service, food, clothes, animals, the list goes on.
When we actually start to listen to the conversations we are having, when we become aware of what we are actually talking about, aware of the things we are saying, it makes us realise our talk is full of negativity, it’s as if we can’t wait to be offended by something, anything.
So, my invitation to you this week is to listen to what you say to others, to your partner, to your children, to your friends, to the person serving you, to the person helping you, and especially to what you say to yourself.
Once you’ve realised how much we are complaining, using negative, fear-based talk and waiting to be offended, then wouldn’t it be great it we make a commitment to a whole day without the complaints…… maybe we could stretch that to 2 days, some of us might reach a week!
Go on, let’s try it and notice how much happier, calmer, content and less stressed we are when we stop just waiting to be offended.