My favorite football team (of the American version) lost this past weekend.
It was a closely contested and tremendously exciting game. And despite their best efforts, they lost on a last-second field goal.
I’m telling you this because, even two days later, this lingering sadness remains in my heart. A kind of mild, yet definitely present malaise that continues to hang over me.
And rationally, this is crazy. To think that the experiences of some 19 and 20-year-old kids should affect my life at all.
Nevertheless, it has.
And as I woke up this morning, I found myself still thinking about it.
With me being a person who talks about spiritual things all the time, and how we should always strive to be kind to other people, the fact that I even enjoy football probably seems kind of out of place. And I get that too.
Part of me wants to feel ashamed that I still enjoy it. Like I should be better than this. And if you’re saying that it proves that I’m not as evolved as I think I am, I would have to say that you are probably right.
I still have a ways to go in my evolution. But the thing is that it’s not going to progress by me wishing that I was farther along than I am.
I also know that many people have a similar experience. For many, their entire weekend or even the entire week is made “good” or “bad” depending on the outcome of a single game. And things like the prevalence of gambling, and to a lesser extent, fantasy football, only add to the situation.
At one time, I would have to have counted myself among those people. And I’m very glad that I have moved on from that. Even if that feeling has not been totally removed from my life.
The fact of the matter is that football is a violent, often brutal game, where in the name of fun and competition, people inflict serious, even life-threatening injuries on others. Yet, I enjoy the drama, the athleticism, the skill, the tactics, and the camaraderie with fellow fans. And I have made peace with the fact that I do enjoy it. And I’m not going to beat myself up about it any longer.
And that brings me to the point that I want to make today.
An Outdated Idea
When you do find negative thoughts clouding your psyche - Bringing you down, affecting your emotional state - your first thought is often to push them away.
To say to the offending thought, in the words of the great poet and metaphysician Shakespeare through the character of Lady Macbeth - Out damned spot!
And then think of happy thoughts that can replace them.
I’m sure that you’ve had a thought like this come up sometime in this past week.
Maybe for you, it’s worrying about how your kids are doing in school. Or how you’re going to extract yourself from the debt that you’re in.
Or how annoying it is when your spouse wants to drive half an hour to the park to take the dogs for a walk, and you just want to write an article for your Substack. 😉
Or even how you have to hang pictures in your sister-in-law’s new house for the 17th time (this should be the last time!)
It sounds like a good idea. And many attempt to do it. Only to get frustrated and resentful when it inevitably comes back up.
What you resist, persists.
Carl Jung
A Better Way
The next time it comes up for you, I want you to try something different.
Instead of attempting to push that unlovely thought out, then beat yourself up and feel guilty about it every time it rears up its ugly head…
Do this instead.
Explore it.
Get curious about it.
How is it affecting you physically?
Is it affecting your ability to focus?
Ask yourself:
Why is it that I would hold a thought that disturbs my peace?
Is there a benefit that could come from it?
A Shift in Perspective
Imagine a being from an alien race, a highly evolved species that has moved past the ego, and is no longer controlled by it.
Imagine that being is looking at you - not with shock and horror, but lovingly.
Curiously.
How would they describe your situation?
Maybe something like:
How interesting. How strange it is that this intelligent being could find himself so affected by the actions of a group of less mature beings, hundreds of miles away. Beings to whom he has no physical connection, other than a certain proximity to the place of his birth.
How utterly bizarre that the the thought of the skin of an animal, inflated with air, moving between two metal poles, could cause a sudden and immediate shift in his emotional state!
What completely curious behavior!
Seems completely ridiculous now, doesn’t it?
Doing this could be a gentle way to see just how absurd the machinations of the ego can be. The lengths that it goes to in order to protect itself.
And then, when you’re ready, you can let them go.
Let them go by feeling the love directed toward you by those same beings.
Imagine they are not of flesh and bone, but of light.
Let their bodies embrace yours. Lift yours on high.
They would tell you that all is well. Nothing is the matter. You are safe. Nothing could possibly hurt you.
Let the light infiltrate every cell of the body that you thought was you. Let it extend and amplify until it becomes so powerful that you can see nothing else.
Become one with that light.
I’m trying something new here. I have a lot of poems I want to publish, but lately, I haven’t been successful in launching them. So I’m going to start including them in these posts -and see how it goes! Let me know what you think - More smaller posts, or fewer and longer?
Why Should I Be Angry?
Why should I be angry
When I only attack myself?
Why should I fear
The shadows in my mind?
Why should sadness
Preoccupy my thoughts?
Why should I hate
When we are of one kind?
why should I be jealous
When there is no other?
Why should I have envy
When I’m given all I need?
Why should I be frightened
When you are my shepherd?
How can I be lost
When You will always lead?
Why should I weep
Unless it is of Your sweet touch?
Why would my heart be empty
When love is all around?
Why should terror strike at my soul
When the only reality is Love’s sweet face?
Why should guilt overtake me
When Your blessings abound?
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Namaste, precious and holy Child of God.
Out, Damned Spot!