Thursday, September 16, 2004

Don't Take it Personally

"Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally...If I say to you, "Hey, you are so stupid"...it’s not about you, it’s about me. If you take it personally, then perhaps you believe you are stupid....What causes you to be trapped is what’s called personal importance." Miguel Ruiz– The Four Agreements

A couple of good friends of mine have run into their own pinches tyrannos. I too, have had my own personal petty tyrant, for years. I was defeated by mine, because I lost control, discipline and forbearance. I have regrouped and gone on, and I refuse to join her and become a petty tyrant myself. Having a personal petty tyrant is a good thing. It’s the best way to find out how self-important you are, and to help you eradicate that self-importance. Self-importance is not a naive consideration. It’s what wastes our energy worrying about me, me, me, instead of observing what is going on around us and dealing with the way things are. What I’ve told my daughter is that some people are like tornados. Tornados hit trailer parks. Don’t live in a trailer park by taking these people personally. These people are idiots. They are an act of nature. We use control, discipline, forbearance, and timing, and in extreme deadly situations, our will, to overcome them. By doing so, and being lucky enough to have a petty tyrant, we remove our self-importance, and properly use our energy to become impeccable.

2 comments:

Della Van Hise / Quantum Shaman said...

Good observations, and altogether true! I am thankful every day for my petty tyrants, even when I might want to strangle them on the spot. :O

Ma'at said...

Take two statements:

1) I love you

2) I hate you

Does any one of them, both of them, or neither of them, have any affect on Who You Are? They may have an effect on who you think you are, but, that's the point. It shouldn't, but it does. Which goes for all of us, me included.