Once upon a mindful time, the Buddha was travelling through a village. The villagers greeted him kindly, but one man began hurling abuse at him and insulting him, calling him a fake and a phoney.
The Buddha wasn't upset by this.
Instead he asked the angry man, “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”
The young man was surprised to be asked such a strange question, but he thought about it and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”
The Buddha said “Correct. It's the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I don't feel insulted nor accept your hostility, the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All youve done is hurt yourself.”
The young man understood, clasped his hands together and slowly bowed to the Buddha.
Be it the grumpy GP receptionist, your mum on your case about number of potatoes, the road rager, the queue barger, the ongoing family feud... 'tis the season to get reactive. But what if we didn't? What if we roll like Buddha, let bad vibes go and decline any unwanted “gifts”?
Because, just as mindfulness reminds us, between stimulus and response there's always choice 😊
Wishing you all a merry run-up and wind-down to Christmas,
Love Jo x
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