Are you sometimes irritated?
Admit it! At times, we all can be a bit like The Princess and the Pea. Life offers much that is good, but sometimes all we do is get irritated by the few small things that don’t go smoothly.
We find ourselves bothered…like when we get stuck in traffic or deal with an irritating customer (again).
If this rings true for you too, you are definitely not alone. There will always be circumstances and people we cannot control and how we respond to them affects the quality of our lives.
There are many stories of spiritual masters embracing the presence of an annoying student in their community. There’s even one story that documents a teacher paying an irritating person to live among his students!
Irritation can be an important teacher and an indication that we are making progress on our personal growth path.
A mollusk gets this annoying little piece of sand in its soft and tender flesh. That speck of sand grates the interior lining of the mollusk and then a coating is produced to cover the irritating intrusion. It adapts to this new irritation instead of trying to get rid of it. And in time an exquisite pearl is formed.
We too have the opportunity to cultivate beauty from irritation. We can become aware of these situations as they come up and notice our reactions.
Then, like the mollusk, we can use that irritation as an opportunity for something worthwhile to grow.
- When we take the time to stop and listen to what is causing us to feel ill or uneasy;
- when we allow for that irritation to speak to us and teach us;
- when we decide to stop running from it or trying to hide it or disguise it;
then we have the chance at turning a simple irritation into something more rewarding.
Remember the mantra,
For most of us, our lives have offered us an abundance of opportunities, of grains of sand!
Which ones have you turned into pearls?
1 Comment
Important message about responding rather than reacting.
Thanks!