Tuesday, November 30, 2021
The external situation of your life is mostly likely not as dramatic, as life-threatening, or as dire as the bullying mind wants you to believe that it is. If you are struggling, you are tussling with a mind that just wants your attention – that’s all. But the truth is that the external dimension is innocent, and if it’s not innocent, it’s simply not within your control. There’s most likely nothing wrong with your external condition, at this moment. If you can read these words peacefully, without someone threatening your life, then all is well. If there is a so-called problem, it’s because your mind is butting in, bullying you to pay attention to it’s insidious dramatic dream about the external situation that it loves to see as “problematic.” The bullying mind works hard to forcibly take over your awareness and your emotions.
It takes two to fight, remember? But a bully looses all manner of power when you realize that what you fear are just images, generated by the mind, of past and future. It’s hardly ever the contents of the present moment, unless it’s a real emergency. But I suspect that as you read these words, there’s no emergency at hand.
Apply a deeper awareness, rather than just paying attention to what’s “on your mind.” Practice focusing more of what’s outside of your mind, rather than what’s inside of it. The bully is within. It’s not on the outside. However, more fully engaging with the outside is what the inside bully hates. Bullies love fear and they thrive on attention. Live more externally and fully engage with what’s happening in your immediate surroundings, in a localized, real-time manner, and the bully will starve. Practice alert, calm focus on your tasks, as they arise, and the inner bully will eventually leave you alone.