Any time we find ourselves sinking into some dark mood, getting more and more disturbed over some past unwanted moment, the first thing we need to see is the truth of the following:
The reason we can't drop what's dragging us down is because we're connected -- in that same moment -- to a lower level of consciousness that likes to show us and give us good reasons to feel bad.
I know it's hard to believe, but repeated experience proves what can no longer be denied. This unconscious relationship we have with ourselves is a lot like hanging out with a constantly negative friend who never stops talking about what's gone wrong or that soon will, but who manages to stay in our good graces by telling us what we need to do about the suffering they're creating in us with their stories.
So, let me ask you, how long would you keep that person in your life?
Exactly. They'd be gone. And this is why, in the throes of any unwanted moment, our first objective must be to wake up and see who and what we're listening to, what are we connected to, and then to see -- from within this same awareness -- that what we are connected to (those troubled thoughts and feelings) can no more lead us to peace than a fan can straighten out a stack of papers on our desk.
When it comes to finding true, unshakeable peace, there is nothing to do, only something to see. That's why, starting today in fact, the very next time something or someone rattles you in some unexpected way, before you start that familiar useless struggle to change that unwanted experience, do something completely new that begins with practicing the following action:
Rather than just passively listening to what you're being told is the problem, and of course what you must do to restore that lost peace of mind, choose instead to see the parts of yourself that are doing the talking, for those parts are the real thief of your peace, and that identification with them is what's keeping you from entering into peace that goes beyond understanding.
To see the truth of this, to quietly witness this unseen condition in your own sleeping consciousness, is the same as effortlessly disconnecting yourself from that level of consciousness. It's an action that instantly reconnects you to the very peace you long to enter into that passes understanding.
As you work to practice this new exercise in recovering your right to live in peace by uncovering and disconnecting yourself from the parts of you that promise it but deliver only a prison, remember that judging yourself is actually a form of opposing yourself. And there is no peace in any such interior war. So be patient with yourself.
Ask to see these truths -- as best you can. And as best you can, work to keep your inner eyes wide open. The awakening that follows such an action is entering into the peace that passes understanding as naturally as roses open their petals to sunlight.
