Expand your awareness
One of the hallmarks of emotional reactivity is that it causes us to have tunnel vision.
When we are in the midst of a reacting to a trigger, our entire attention is focused on the cause of the irritation and upset. As a result of this, we fail to notice everything that is beautiful and good around us.
While there are solid biological reasons for this reaction when we are in the midst of a true life and death situation and need to focus our attention on the threat, this kind of reaction does not serve us well in the vast majority of triggers and upsets that we face in our daily lives. It simply causes us to lose perspective and become reactive.
One of the ways to develop mental and emotional balance is to intentionally expand our awareness to include what is going right around us. When we do this, by definition we put the problem or the irritant in its rightful place.
Expanding our focus is NOT about denying what is bothering us or not dealing with it. It is about having a realistic perspective of our life – with its challenges and its blessings.
The next time you are in the midst of an emotional overreaction, pause for a moment and take a breadth. Then expand your awareness so that you can get a proper perspective of the issue at hand.
We will inshallah talk about this some more tomorrow.
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