Don’t Take it Personally Do you ever find yourself offended, hurt, and angered by other peoples behavior? Sometimes it is directed at us so how can we not? Sometimes the self that we choose to express ourselves is so dominant that we suppress it’s opposite. For example, let’s say you are a kind, generous, giving, nurturing person. From the perspective of your giving self you will judge those around you who are unlike you to be selfish. For this reason you will find yourself always having to deal with selfish people. Maybe it will be your spouse, a child, or your boss from work. Why is this? It is the universe’s way of making you consciously aware of it and to integrate that quality within yourself. You are probably thinking, “I’m not selfish!, but the fact is we have everything in our psyches already and the more we disown them the more extreme they become. So, when that time comes and you do exhibit a little similar behavior and have a selfish moment, you judge yourself harshly and criticize yourself for doing it. Even our critic in us is a self and we are punished by it when we break the rules from our selfless self. To be truly giving you need to be in touch with selfishness too. No aspect is totally positive or negative. Generosity is only positive if you can set boundaries and when you can allow the one your are being generous to, to be generous to you as well. If you are always the giver you don’t allow the other to give to you therefore forcing them into being a taker. So you see, even a selfless person can be selfish by only being concerned with their own desires and not seeing what the other person needs. Take the time to look at all of your selves so you consciously know where your opposites are. Are you a rulemaker, rebel, observer, or any other combination of selves. What ever it is you feel strongest about will be the most revealing to you. If you are angry, most likely you will have a lot of nice people around you, if you are reckless you will have careful people around you. This is a really fun way to get to know yourself and to wipe out all beliefs that cause you to feel that someone else is treating you badly. Often times we are just meeting up with the counterpart of who we are. Good to know. “I have the ability to spontaneously drop thoughts, which ensures that conflict never arises in the first place. I accept every single expression of life, experiencing whatever is unfolding in the outer world, I just remain silent internally to whatever is happening externally.” –ASHWIN KUMAR, MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT