Positively Resilient by Doug Hensch

Author:Doug Hensch [Doug Hensch]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Career Press
Published: 2016-10-23T22:00:00+00:00

5

Mindfulness and Curiosity Make a Comeback

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.

—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

A number of years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about a relationship that was creating a great deal of stress for me. Emails from this person sent my heart rate through the roof and conversations with this person were worse. I could feel a lump in my throat and my palms would get sweaty. My sympathetic nervous system would kick in automatically when we would engage in a conversation via email, text, phone, or in person. I was in fight or flight mode immediately.

My goal in the conversation with my friend was to get some advice on how to respond to several emails from “adversary.” I read through each email aloud, waiting for my friend to respond. I noticed my heart rate climbing and my anger mounting just from reading these notes. After reading the emails out loud to my friend, I anticipated some very witty responses that would help me “win” these battles. He completely surprised me by saying, “Why don’t you just try being curious for the next week?”

“Wait a minute. So, you don’t think I should respond?” I quickly said.

“No, he replied. “Just practice being curious. Explore what this really means. Think about how this is affecting you emotionally and physically. Yes, just be curious.”

A week passed before my friend and I spoke of these emails again. I spent the week being curious and not reacting. My anger cooled off. The situation really didn’t need any more antagonistic communication. My life was better as a result. And so began my journey into the world of curiosity and mindfulness.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.