It is normal for us as human beings to respond to situations with emotions. When we get slapped in the face, for instance, the urge to return the slap arises almost instantly. Our logical reasoning skills plummet and our rational mind becomes fuzzy. When we act on impulse, a domino ensues where one thing leads to another and strains relationships, our health deteriorates or we lose our mind. This sort of response is highly likely to occur if we live life in a past-paced environment where we do not have time to quieten our mind and think to ourselves. We disregard the fact that we are ultimately human beings and not robots who do not need a break to cleanse ourselves from within. It is then that these negative emotions we exude on a daily basis form an overall negative thinking progress and ultimately a foul attitude towards life and others. We fail to realise that it is in fact ourselves who create this negative nature through repetitive negative thinking.
If we try to slow down our pace of life and take out some time for internalization, this situation can improve significantly. Slowing down means our reaction time gets lengthened and we react on impulse much less. Slowly but surely, the mind starts to take in the situation before us and thinks before we act or speak. It is a gradual process that comes from training the mind through meditation or simply giving some time to ourselves to process information. As this thought process sets in, we start to accept any given situation and think of a logical, practical solution. This is synonymous to two contestants in a boxing, sumo-wrestling or judo competition - they shake hands or bow to each other before engaging in combat. Similarly, if we 'shake hands' with our problems or a situation causing distress, we would be able to gauge it better and we would better know how to handle it as well. That is, without causing any explosion. An explosion would not only hurt the opposite party but us as well; something which we tend to overlook.
Ultimately, we need to remember that life is like a river. Sometimes it flows slowly, sometimes it flows faster; sometimes it dries up while at other times it overflows. Trying to change any given situation and using the 5 W's and 1 H to analyse it is like attempting to dam the river and control it. If we do this, there would be a pressure build-up on the other side, which would cause our health to deteriorate from stress or even create tensions in relationships.
On the other hand, if we flow with the river, that would lead to us compromising on ourselves. For instance, if someone slaps us, we end up slapping them back. That would be like flowing with the river and thinking that that is the accepted mode of conduct. Similarly, if one thinks that their emotions are valid in a certain situation and stay attached to negative emotions such as hurt or distress, that would be like flowing with the river as well (i.e. letting the situation control you).
The best solution would be to plant our feet firmly in the same position while letting the situation wash past us. In this process, we come into contact with the situation, acknowledge it, accept it and think of a solution so that we can overcome it. In this scenario, we neither try to change the situation nor let it control us.
We stay rooted to the soil and emerge as a lotus from the river.
