If you’re anything like me, you’ve been triggered many times as Election Day creeps closer and closer. Algorithmic paid-for lies, media, friends, family, people you don’t even know, all have opinions and are all posting them via social media. While we can’t change ANY of this, we can change the way we respond, in a way that levels up our self-mastery.
The 33rd verse of the Tao opens up with this:
One who understands others has knowledge;
One who understands himself has wisdom.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.
How can we master our emotions in such a heated climate?
Let’s ask ourselves these two simple questions.
- Do you feel you need to control others?
- Are you looking inward to understand yourself?
I’m going to give you my personal account. First off, I’ve seen so many lies across the board. I’ve seen so many people bashing other people. I’ve seen more hate this time around than ever before. The more aware I become of my feelings, the more I truly FEEL them, if that makes sense.
I’ve gotten rid of many people on my friends list. Rather than attempting to change people’s minds, I’ve had to eradicate them from my life altogether, mainly for posting lies and for encouraging the division of this nation. So, on this front, I’d like to encourage you to let go of your need to control other people, and this goes for all areas of your life. More importantly, this paves way for you to take responsibility of your own feelings and emotions versus blaming others for “making” you feel a certain way.
This leads me to the second question. Things that I see which obviously trigger me, I’ve had to learn to feel that in my body. You know that feeling you get? It’s almost as if your body goes into “fight or flight” mode. For example, yesterday, I responded to a post which was a complete lie about Kamala Harris being anti-God. Which she is not. Which is another example of paid advertising geared to get your panties in a wad….another example of the Social Dilemma. But I responded by asking her to watch the Social Dilemma documentary on Netflix because I truly saw that this was GOP and religious propaganda (and I also prefer to encourage education instead of bashing someone). A white male then called me a child and told me Netflix and SNL were purely entertainment. (Which is funny because A) he obviously hasn’t seen this documentary and B) I literally said NOTHING about SNL.)
So, MY fight or flight kicked in. I wanted to be mean, because this person called me a “child.” I also wanted to be right. I had to take a deep breath. Actually, I took like ten breaths, and then I had to let it go. I needed to look at myself to understand why I was triggered so hard. I know the answer to this, however, this is where our own strength comes in. Rather than fighting, I took it upon myself to not let someone else control my emotions. To not let someone I DON’T EVEN KNOW, raise my stress and cortisol levels. We have to level up our own strength.
Unfortunately, this is real life right now. So, the point of this post is to encourage everyone to focus on yourself rather than focusing on others or blaming them for your emotions. I truly believe you have the strength and power within you to do this.
The only way we can raise the vibration around us is if we can raise the vibration WITHIN us first. I believe that is where true change begins.
What are some examples of your own self-mastery?
Original post can be found at LindsayManfredi.com.