Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Three Ways to Not Let the Elections Get You Down



1- REFRAME TO REMAIN SANE
            We see everything through our own eyes. We are the ones who give a meaning to everything. Therefore, how you interpret a situation may be very different than the way someone else sees the same situation.
            Being stuck in traffic, for example, may be an unpleasant experience for someone who will be late for an important meeting or, on the other hand, a godsend for someone who didn’t want to go to that meeting anyhow.
            So no matter how upset you may feel about the election process or the candidates, you can reframe that. To do so, ask yourself one or more of these questions.
     - Does getting upset/angry serve me?                                                                                                - Does my being upset/angry bring me more or less joy into my life                                                  - What can I learn from my being upset/anger?

2- LEARN TO FORGIVE
            One powerful way to counteract the anger you maybe having toward the candidates is through forgiveness. They are doing a tough job…a job that probably most of us would not want. They are doing the best the can under some very difficult circumstances. They are being criticized for their beliefs and for things they may, or may not, have done in the past.
            Getting angry at the election process or what the candidates are claiming is only adding negativity to the situation. If you strongly believe in one candidate or what they stand for, or if you don’t like the choices, don’t get angry. Instead, forgive the system and the candidates…get out and work to change that…and vote for what you want.
            And remember what Wayne Dyer, the author and self-help advocate once said, “In the scheme of things, what you do and whether you are angry or not will have all the impact of another glass of water being thrown over Niagara Falls. Whether you choose laughter or anger will not matter much—except that the former will fill your present moments with happiness, and the latter will waste them in misery.”


3- GIVE UP BEING RIGHT
Insisting that you are right, even if you are, will only cause you more confrontation and more stress. To ease that, you only need to ask yourself one question when right-or-wrong encounters arise.
         That simple but profound question comes from the book A Course in Miracle. Ask yourself:  “Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?”  Which one you choose, right or happy, will set the tone for what kind of day you will have.

         And finally, to counteract the upsets you may be having around the election, whenever you are feeling upset take the “You-Can’t-Ruin-My-Day” pledge. Raise your right hand and say out loud:
“Starting right now, I will take back my power
and not let anyone or anything ruin my day.
So help me Oprah Winfrey.”

*****
The ideas above are taken from the book, You Can’t Ruin My Day 
(Viva Editions, 2015) by Allen Klein http://tinyurl.com/hhwbgq4

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