๐ HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE! ๐
In times of stress, our thinking NARROWS.
We forget the ideals we set for ourselves. ๐ฒ
We forget the goals we were aiming to reach. ๐ฒ
We instead fall into thinking patterns limited to our self-preservation. ๐จ
But youโre NO LESS of a person for falling back into old thinking patterns. It happens to us all. โค๏ธ
What matters is not that we became lost in thought (for the thousandth time), but that we continue to acknowledge the moments when we do, to accept the moment as it is, and continue redirecting our focus towards what truly matters to us. โคด๏ธ
If youโre a meditater, you know how RANDOM your thoughts can be! ๐งโโ๏ธ
Thoughts you have absolutely no control over will appear in your conscious mind, like a fish in a pond which pops its head at the surface of the water. ๐
With a practice like meditation, you realize you donโt have to engage with this fish. You realize itโs just one of many fish that will appear ALL THE TIME, and you have the choice to allow this fish to just go on its way. ๐
But without us developing these skills of self-awareness and self-control, we will ALWAYS be at the whim of us grabbing the next fish. ๐คฏ
We will continue grabbing every fish that appears and assume every fish carries equal value.
But the problem is some fish are unhealthy, harmful, and even dangerous. ๐ฆ
For example, itโs SO EASY these days for the Fish of Outrage to appear more and more in the mind. ๐
But the more often you grab the Fish of Outrage, the more often the fish comes back.
Because whatever you keep focusing on in the mind grows. ๐
Itโs why Nietszche famously said: โ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐ณ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ ๐๐ณ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ.โ
In other words, some of the most dangerous people are the ones who can only see wrongdoing in everyone else but themselves. They see themselves through a divine lens while simultaneously projecting the Fish they reject in their own minds onto other people. ๐
Thatโs why thereโs the saying: โ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐.โ
๐ If you are suffering, you are lost in thought. ๐
Suffering begets suffering.
Thatโs why itโs important we remember:
๐ HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE! ๐
That person you see screaming in the face of another person? ๐คฌ
That person expressing irrational and out-of-control behavior? ๐คฌ
That person who is vowing to get revenge? ๐คฌ
They are ALL suffering. ๐
For my social media friends thirsty for condemnation and revenge, I know this may be a difficult concept to understand. ๐ค
It may be even more difficult because this post is holding a MIRROR up to yourself. โค๏ธ
A person who feels the need to hurt other people, to crave revenge, to watch the whole world burn, is NEVER a happy person. ๐
In fact, the ones who hurt the most are often the ones who need love the most. โค๏ธ
Because:
๐ HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE! ๐
Consider the words of Sam Harris:
โ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ, ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐. โฐ๏ธย .
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก, ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐ข
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐?โ โค๏ธ
During times of stress, these ideas Iโm sharing may likely WONโT be at the forefront of our minds. ๐
Thatโs why itโs our job to work on ourselves, to develop ourselves, and to increase our self-awareness. ๐
Because the work we do on ourselves now is NOT just about us. Itโs about everyone around us whoโs also going to benefit from it. ๐
When you take care of yourself, you can better take care of others. โค๏ธ
When youโre loving to yourself, youโre more loving to others. โค๏ธ
When youโre forgiving to yourself, youโre more forgiving to others. โค๏ธ
It works both ways. โ๏ธ
So, the next time you THINK about grabbing that Fish of Outrage in the mind, remember:
๐ HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE! ๐
Will you be a part of breaking the cycle of suffering? ๐
As Martin Luther King Jr. beautifully said: โ๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ; ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ญ๐; ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ.โ โค๏ธ
