Refuse to Participate in People's Drama and in Things That Bother You (590 hits)
I was watching the recent Barbara Walters special, "The Ten Most Fascinating People of 2008." She interviewed Rush Limbaugh, who has been called by USA Today "perhaps the media's most polarizing personalities." He is certainly one of the most controversial. Limbaugh has just signed a $400 million deal shattering broadcast records.
Barbara asked him how could he be so successful in the middle of an economic downslide? He shot back, "I choose not to participate." End of subject.
Personally I have felt insulted by Limbaugh in the past. There is probably not one group of people that has escaped his insults, but he reminded us of two things:
The first is Spiritual masters throughout the ages and many successful people refuse to participate in lack. Even if their finances have bottomed out, they look at their last dime as a symbol of prosperity. That last dime represents hope and the fact that there is an unseen substance around them waiting to materialize into the funds they need if they don't give up. They believe if they can control their fears, abundancy will once again come forth in their lives.
"I have been broke many times in my life, but never poor." Jimmy Dean
"Broke is temporary. Poor is a state of mind." Mike Todd
The second thing Limbaugh reminded us, was that everyone has something of value to say. We can learn from everyone, even those you don't like, agree with, those who you think are too young or too old, and even that homeless person on the street who you think has nothing worthwhile to share. We can learn from them if we are open.
How Not to Participate:
Choosing not to participate is not just about low finances, but also about refusing to participate with people who try to drag us into their drama, things that frustrate us like computers, the pain in our bodies, or anything that takes us off balance.
So how do we not participate when grim news is all around us? By standing guard of our thoughts. Our ego-mind loves the chaos, and loves to keep us down. Most of the time we don't realize that it's not what is happening that affects us. It's our thoughts that make bad times worse by our fearful, angry thoughts.
Tune into your thoughts. Listen to the voice that is keeping you fearful, frustrated and angry. That's being Mindful, a 2,500 Buddha teaching that is now taught in clinics for pain, stress management and cancer, across the country.
Allow Your Thoughts to Be:
It's important not to judge our thoughts, or try to suppress them. This only makes the fear stronger. Use your breath. It calms your mind because we all have a mind-body connection. Observe your breath as you listen to your thoughts. You can do this listening to others as well, especially to that boss who drives you crazy, or that relative who will not shut up.
You will soon find those thoughts that don't serve you, will no longer create the tensions and stress in your body. Just be the witness and watch them fade away. Being Mindful of thoughts is a practice. Because some thoughts are stubborn and keep coming back, you must stay guard and be the witness of your mind.
Choose to participate in minding your thoughts often through out the day. Put a rubber band on your wrist to help you remember to be present. You will find a calmness if you are living in the moment, watching your thoughts.
Remember, the first law of Science: Whatever is observed, changes.
Excellent blog and thanks for posting!
Thursday, December 11th 2008 at 9:17PM
Jen Fad
Great thoughts. It's interesting that you used this particular interview, because it's a good example for this blog.
I don't necessarily agree with a lot of Rush Limbaugh's political views, and he has the tendency to be abrasive when it comes to stating his positions. It is, however, his personality, and he has no intent to change it... which is exactly why he's earning $400M today.
I happened to see this interview when it aired on ABC. Barbara Walters was trying desparately to provoke Limbaugh throughout the 20-minute or so interview. Every one of her questions was a "hook" trying to catch Rush off guard... what we saw instead was a pretty personable guy with a bone to pick with our government. Not exactly what the producers of the show had in mind.
I've often had to learn the hard way about controlling my emotions, because when we don't, others will use them to control you.
Friday, December 12th 2008 at 9:41AM
Jon C.
