ALWAYS try to be aware of your feelings, whether they be happy ones, sad ones, angry ones, fearful ones, frustrated ones, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Whenever you are confronted by a situation in your life, especially a negative one that threatens your tenuous peace of mind, stop for a moment, stand aside from yourself and impartially watch your emotions.

Ask yourself, “How am I reacting to this affront to my sense of self righteousness, what do I feel – anger, horror, regret, retaliation, revenge? What?” Don’t identify with your emotions, especially don’t try and do anything about them, don’t try and stop them, that just gives your ego more ammunition to enable it to continue stubbornly on with your negative outburst.

Simply watch your emotions as they bubble and seethe just under the surface and let them be there without acting upon them – or judging them or yourself – just watch.

Ask yourself, “How do I normally react when I am confronted by someone that is different than me, a foreigner say, a person of a different colour, or from a different ethnic background, a Muslim for instance. Even though you know deep down that that person is not a threat to you in any way and would have nothing to do with any such thing as an act of terrorism say?”

What is your demeanour when you first see such a person, and if confronted by them, what are you thinking about them? How are you regarding them? Do you purposely try and avoid them, or do you approach them with fear, with distrust, with loathing, or do you find that you can accept them unconditionally?

By doing that simple act – impartially watching our emotions as they occur – we become consciously aware of what is going on inside of us instead of reacting like mindless robots to what’s going on outside of us…

Dan’s Quote: “Watch your thoughts for they become words.
______________Watch your words for they become actions.
______________Watch your actions for they become habits.
______________Watch your habits for they become character.
______________Watch your character for it becomes your destiny.”