Losing it? This is how to handle reactivity

Life as we know it is going through enormous changes on all levels. This can be uncomfortable, even frightening, especially when we focus our attention on external matters.

Fortunately, the outside world is the world of effects; all true change occurs from the non-physical Energy Field. As awakened beings, we have the ability to direct our focus into this benevolent, unified Forcefield and let our alignment serve as a conduit for the flow of Life Force to create optimal results in the world around us.

This is our privilege and our mandate. Living as awakened beings asks us to recognize that we are the bearers of the culture of an emerging new world, no matter how unimportant we may seem in the larger scheme of things.

The currency of this new emerging world is not money, but consciousness. It is the level of consciousness that we embody that will allow us to create optimal outcomes for ourselves, our loved ones, and the future. The higher our level of embodied consciousness, the greater the results we can create.

Every moment of every day, we contribute to the field of consciousness, from which possibilities and probabilities can arise when critical mass is reached.

We can contribute to the creation of optimal realities only to the extent that we embody awakened consciousness. None of us can create results at levels higher than our embodied consciousness.

That means we need to discipline our thoughts, because our thoughts direct the flow of energy. All creative activity begins with this inner work because as it is within, so it is without. We cannot create outside of ourselves what we are not aligned with.

It reminds me of a talk the Dalai Lama gave on world peace, and someone asked how we could achieve world peace with so much conflict around us. The Dalai Lama’s response was: “Today, you can have peace in the world if you commit to becoming the peace you seek in the world. If each of you reaches out with forgiveness and compassion to the person with whom you react the most; the person you judge, hate or despise the most, you will have put a stone in the way of world peace”.

Peace begins with each of us. And if we want to build a more peaceful world, we must learn to control our reactivity.

Everyone experiences different triggers: for some it is the news, for others it is politics, or the fear of what might happen, or the demands of others, or frustration due to setbacks or external events. You may simply be aware that you have an instant trigger anger or impatience, representing your individual reactivity to the triggers.

Once you recognize the triggers that affect you, you can learn to use them as opportunities to more fully awaken and discipline your mind.

Your state of consciousness is your most valuable asset in awakening. By becoming aware of your specific reactivity triggers, you can use those triggers to awaken more fully instead of feeding the ego with reactivity. You can use each trigger situation as part of your spiritual practice to go deeper into the Truth.

Most of us don’t like conflict. We seek harmony and when there are too many conflicting triggers around, we ‘lose’ it. However, dissonance is an integral part of life; The key to inner peace lies not in trying to avoid triggers, but in learning to use them as a way to become more mindful, more awake, and more aware.

All the triggers in your life—annoying people, political infighting, COVID restrictions, and even your children’s annoyances or traffic noises—offer you lessons in disguise. Instead of feeding the ego with reactivity, you can use each trigger as an opportunity for growth.

External situations teach us to focus on the only thing that matters: inner peace. In the midst of the outer clamor and drama, we can move our awareness beyond ego resistance and reactivity to focus on the deep inner peace at the center of it all. This is our main job as awakened beings; when we no longer feed ego reactivity, we become instruments for peace on earth.

We transform our own reactivity with awareness, awake choice, and disciplined repetition.

As soon as you recognize that a trigger arises, you’re already in the driver’s seat. Remember that you have a choice. You can choose to react or you can shift your focus to the watcher within, where eternal peace prevails.

When you recognize the anger or frustration rising within you, choose not to focus on resisting or reacting to the present moment. Instead, consciously move your awareness inward to find the presence of Eternal Peace below the surface there.

If you ‘lose’ emotionally and lash out or react, it simply means that you momentarily lost consciousness and became unconscious.

When you first start working on reactivity, you may lose it and only recognize that you’ve become reactive after it happens. Disciplined awareness will help him stay aware in the midst of triggers, and he will increasingly maintain the awareness that he can choose how to respond.

Don’t be discouraged when you lose it and become unconscious; some of our unconscious behaviors have been ingrained throughout life. That is why it is so difficult for societies to recognize the shadow of it and work with it.

Realizing how far we have drifted from the truth and become unconscious, we may experience guilt, shame, or fear, which simply adds another layer of reactivity to the mix. And when we project that emotion outward because it’s too uncomfortable to face, we’re not just feeding the ego instead of the soul; we feed the divide and become part of the problem.

Staying conscious requires that you have compassion for yourself. Recognize that when you choose to become spiritually unconscious, you are fueling the ego with reactivity and harmonizing yourself. Compassion allows you to simply recognize when you fall short and resolve to remain fully aware the next time.

Continuous self-discipline brings incremental empowerment. The next time a trigger comes up, you may notice that you stayed conscious longer before losing it. By acknowledging that you lost it, you are increasing your awareness. Every time you get shot, your growing awareness allows you to stay alert to go unconscious and feed the ego with reactivity.

Cultivating awareness is the key to moving through the gamut of daily triggers without losing your peace or feeding your ego. Stabilize your consciousness in your inner observer consciousness; will remind you that each trigger gives you a choice. By choosing to align with the higher consciousness within, you will gradually separate yourself from the tyranny of the ego and remain at peace.