Yesterday, I received a contractor’s invoice for a home service that was totally unsatisfactory. They did not provide much of the service that’s advertised and yet they billed me as if they had. The “warrior” in me was agitated and wanted justice. I was determined to right this perceived wrong. Although my attorney was very ready to take action on my behalf, advice I began to feel uncomfortable about his suggested response. Perhaps I was acting hastily, treatment why was I so obsessed with this?
Eckhart Tolle, NY Times best-selling author of A New Earth and The Power of Now, might say that I was caught up in my ego-mind. The ego-monkey-mind, gets pleasure in running the show, justifying its position vs. others and distracting us from what we really want, e.g. joy and peace of mind. I had definitely lost my focus and serenity over this issue.
Does such obsessive thinking ever occur in your life? How often? Certainly, injustices are not fair and ideally can be reversed. However, a balanced mind and approach to life is my goal. Is this contractor issue really that important that it should consume so much of my mental energy and focus?
Fortunately, many years ago I learned how to take the steam out of my obsessive ego-monkey-mind thinking with Effortless Meditation™. Although, as this contractor experience reveals, it’s an on-going process. Obsessive thoughts still sporadically appear, they grab me; however, their roar and impact is far less today. In meditation, I effortlessly return to mental stillness, a state of balance and peace. Through regular daily meditation practice, I’ve experienced a growing internal serenity and freedom that enables me to “let go” of stressors and move on in my life rather than obsessing for long periods over things that I have very little, if any, control!
Injustices, both real and imaginary, are a part of life; however, our responses to them can change for the better. Today, life is good, very good. Don’t sweat the small stuff; and you know, it’s mostly small stuff!