I've been meaning to write about the ying and yang for quite some time; and I'm not talking about the Ying Yang Twins. As many of you already know, the concept of yin and yang describes two opposing and, at the same time, complementary (completing) aspects of any one phenomenon (object or process) or comparison of any two phenomena. They are universal standards of quality at the basis of the systems of correspondence seen in most branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy. At least that's how it is described in Wikipedia...
Now, it may be old news to some of you more enlightened folks out there, but I began to notice the reality of the ying and the yang in my own life. For instance, whenever something TOTALLY EXCELLENT happened to me, whenever I came across some good fortune or performed some good deed, an equally balancing negative force inevitably came later. I remember one time I was on a high after accomplishing something at work and I was Mr. Smiles to everyone I passed all day (a really strange thing if you happen to be in New York) -- I even opened the door for a little, old lady as she was leaving Duane Reade... when the Ying suddenly slapped me across the face, a middle aged, 'rough-looking woman' brushed passed this poor, old lady and looked me straight in the eye muttering, "Get the f*%k outta my way!"
Well, the expected reaction I would have given was," F*%k you", but I held back and took three deep breaths to calm myself (see my post on Avoiding Conflict). I came to the realization that this unpredictable, unexpected event occurred to balance out the positive energy that I was projecting. By reacting in the expected fashion, I would have expended about half of my positive energy, convert it into negative energy, and subsequently felt less positive or even neutral from that point on. Instead, I took a different path of reaction... I let my feeling of rage pass and I focused on helping the little, old lady who was pushed aside and smiled at her. She smiled back and thanked me... adding a little more to my positive energy.
Following that incident, I decided to conduct a difficult social experiment... I decided that I would beam positive energy and try hard not to let anything bring me down. The results? Good things happened, but bad things soon followed.
So, in conclusion... stay positive! It's difficult... but if you can maintain it, you'll notice a big change in your world! If you have noticed similar things in your life... please leave me a comment and share your thoughts... thanks!
Now, it may be old news to some of you more enlightened folks out there, but I began to notice the reality of the ying and the yang in my own life. For instance, whenever something TOTALLY EXCELLENT happened to me, whenever I came across some good fortune or performed some good deed, an equally balancing negative force inevitably came later. I remember one time I was on a high after accomplishing something at work and I was Mr. Smiles to everyone I passed all day (a really strange thing if you happen to be in New York) -- I even opened the door for a little, old lady as she was leaving Duane Reade... when the Ying suddenly slapped me across the face, a middle aged, 'rough-looking woman' brushed passed this poor, old lady and looked me straight in the eye muttering, "Get the f*%k outta my way!"
Well, the expected reaction I would have given was," F*%k you", but I held back and took three deep breaths to calm myself (see my post on Avoiding Conflict). I came to the realization that this unpredictable, unexpected event occurred to balance out the positive energy that I was projecting. By reacting in the expected fashion, I would have expended about half of my positive energy, convert it into negative energy, and subsequently felt less positive or even neutral from that point on. Instead, I took a different path of reaction... I let my feeling of rage pass and I focused on helping the little, old lady who was pushed aside and smiled at her. She smiled back and thanked me... adding a little more to my positive energy.
Following that incident, I decided to conduct a difficult social experiment... I decided that I would beam positive energy and try hard not to let anything bring me down. The results? Good things happened, but bad things soon followed.
So, in conclusion... stay positive! It's difficult... but if you can maintain it, you'll notice a big change in your world! If you have noticed similar things in your life... please leave me a comment and share your thoughts... thanks!
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