Mindful Matters
What we may believe:
"Staying calm is exhausting."
"Thinking before you speak is energy depleting."
"Giving a damn about what people will think or how they'll react can bring you to your knees." "Being responsible is just difficult. Being afraid and angry must be better. After all, they're easier."
"Whoever said the facts make for better decisions? It's much easier just to make the facts conform to what you want and then insist on getting your way."
The Truth
Taking time to concentrate on your breath and push all other thoughts out of your mind even if it is just for five minutes, gets easier the more you do it. Thinking before you speak isn't something done to win an argument. It is something you do to avoid a conflict in the first place and takes no more energy. The truth about all of us is that we do give a damn about what people think. Modern advertising would disappear if that weren't true. Thinking about how people will react takes less time than dreaming up a response for why they reject you. The facts are often debatable just like the truth can be seen from different viewpoints. But fantasy is just fantasy. Taking time to bring yourself back to neutral will center you back on using that power of your brain to respond rather than react, to heal rather than hurt, an build rather than destroy.