Accepting and Allowing
This past weekend I ran into some friends at Winterfest in Easthampton (who also happened to be the Committee members for the event).
The Abominable Snowman (Bumble) is the event icon and all activities center around raising awareness of, and funds for, the Nashawannuck Pond. So where else would Bumble be but right in front of the pond at the pre-eminent corner of Easthampton center.
Here’s the kicker… some protestors decided to set themselves up in front of Bumble so that cars passing through town could see them with all of their signs. My friend politely asked them if they would consider moving so they would not take away from the event the Pond Committee had spent the last 4 months planning.
One of the protestors responded by saying that it was public property and they could stand where they liked. My friend politely (though disappointedly) responded by saying, “Thank you very much for your consideration” and walked away.
When I approached my friends, they were on the opposite corner trying to figure out what to do.
Do we move Bumble, take him down, do nothing? One committee member was having a very difficult time letting go (accepting) of the fact that the event might be linked with these protestors.
Here’s the reality of life every single day:
WE CANNOT CONTROL WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS OR DOES. WE CAN ONLY CONTROL WHAT WE THINK AND DO.
I know it’s easy to say and harder to incorporate into our lives but every time we get angry or annoyed by someone else’s actions or words, we are actually harming ourselves. We feel badly physically and emotionally and we disconnect ourselves from our true selves, which really are loving, kind and accepting.
We always feel better when we can accept and allow whatever is happening in our lives and embrace it with kindness and compassion. And that may simply mean that we allow ourselves to have compassion for the annoyance we feel about something we can’t change.
No one changes overnight, but if we can recognize that anger at others doesn’t actually harm them or change anything they are doing, AND in fact it does harm us, maybe we can start to think about other ways of responding to situations.
Anger is really nothing more than a form of fear. In this particular case, there was some fear that people would associate the politics of the protestors with the events of winterfest. While holding onto this fear, they couldn’t enjoy the event.
One of the committee members (older and wiser!) responded by saying that if the news reported the two events together, they could simply write a letter to the editor and clarify any misunderstandings.
Action Step:
Notice your emotions today as you go through your day. Every day most of us are “up” and “down” and all over the place with our emotions throughout our days.
Meditation practice helps make accepting and allowing anything that happens, to be a little bit easier. It reminds us that we’re all connected and it feels better to live in love than in fear.
Maybe start your one minute of meditation practice today!?
