Inner Work

For the week of: July 7, 2003

Pressed Buttons

With the right attitude, life becomes our teacher. Daily living presses our emotional buttons as situation after situation induces us to react with anger, jealousy, fear, indignation, outrage, greed, etc. While emotions can be our strength, more often they drain the precious energies we need for our inner work. When we react without choice, we lose ourselves, our presence, our energy, and our natural joy of living.

Our reactive emotions should alert us to the fact that we are stuck, identified with something. If we see ourselves drawn toward some emotional reaction, can we turn it into an occasion to see more clearly into ourselves and our motivation in that moment? Rather than trying to escape, can we just stand without judgment in the presence of the inner difficulty, allowing it to reveal itself fully to our consciousness? This approach of conscious kindness toward and acceptance of ourselves gradually heals us and conserves our energies for more profitable uses.

For this week, when your emotional buttons are pressed, let them ring an inner bell that reminds you to look deeply and kindly at yourself — just looking, without commentary or judgment.

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