On a recent Friday morning, I was working in the kitchen with music playing through my earbuds. I was dancing and feeling good. It was the end of a rather good week.
I felt better than I had in some time, and I enjoyed it.
I wondered would these feelings last. Was I back to an emotional high?
The next week, I encountered some snags, including not sending out my Golden Nugget newsletter as I am committed to doing.
Then I attended a couple social events that I had been anticipating. At the beginning of one of those events, the thought crossed my mind, nobody is really engaging with me, I might as well leave.
Then I thought better of that decision. It’s too early to leave. I decided to stick around and see what might happen. After all, I had some good experiences with this group in the past. Why not see if things turn out better.
If you’re anything like me, your emotions could be at a high one day and then at a low the next moment. Emotions are tricky things.
At one time, I didn’t pay much attention to my emotions. I just kept my head down and put my nose to the grindstone.
Then my emotions boiled over in such a way that I could no longer ignore them. I had to do something about them.
For a long time, I tried to control my emotions. Celebrate and foster positive, upbeat emotions. When I had negative emotions, I would castigate myself, which only made the situation worse.
It wasn’t until I began to accept my emotions as clouds passing across the skyscape of my consciousness that I stopped being pulled down further by the negative emotions.
While reading the book, Buddha’s Brain, I came across this thought:
“… if you can be with the pleasant without chasing after it, with the unpleasant without resisting it, and with the neutral without ignoring it—then you have cut the chain of suffering, at least for a time. And that is an incredible blessing and freedom.”
The path to prosperous life can have a multitude of ups and downs. One day you may be on an emotional high. The next day your emotions may drop to a low point.
Highs can provide wonderful feelings and powerful vistas of what is possible. It’s easy to pursue them and avoid the muck and the mire of more mundane tasks.
I’ve learned, though, that continuing on the path when the first steps are less than pleasant, can provide opportunities and experiences for rich rewards.
Just as the highs and lows of a hike through the mountains, changes in altitude on the path to prosperity make for a rich journey. As Rick Hanson, author of Buddha’s Brain, says, being able to face both the pleasant, the unpleasant, and the mundane parts of the journey provides “incredible blessing and freedom.”
| Golden Word: profit from Latin proficere “accomplish, make progress; be useful, do good; have success, profit,” Example: Their greatest profit came from seeing their customers’ smiles. Golden Quote: Measure your success with your happiness, not with other’s opinions. – Giridhar Alwar Golden Speech: Secrets of success in 8 words (Full 3 min | Clip 14 sec) Analyst Richard St. John shares insights from interviewing highly successful people to answer the question “Why do people succeed?” Golden Statistic: Entrepreneurs are happier…. even if they’re not yet generating a profit. (Wharton School of Business study) Golden Term: Job Satisfaction is “a positive emotional response you experience when doing your job or when you are present at work.” (10 Factors that Influence Job Satisfaction) Golden Tip: Whether you’re emotions are high or low, remember why you’re following the path to prosperity. Golden Question: What do you say to yourself when your emotions take you for a ride? (I’d love to hear your thoughts! Reply to this email.) |
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