The patterns you see are the patterns you can change.

 

Thoughts, interpretations, emotions and actions, are patterns of behaviors.

 

Luckily you have the cognition to see these patterns and the conscience to discern them. 

 

You go outside to go to work,

but it’s raining.

You haven’t looked outside or at the weather report so you haven’t put on your rain jacket. You interpret this as discomfortable. This interpretation leads you to thinking in a negative manner. When you arrive at work you speak in this negative way about the rain, and all your coworkers agree. 

 

This is a culturally accepted way to go about your day. 

 

However, you have no obligation to view the rain in this manner.

The rain is fine,

nice even.

Just imagining the smell of summer rain calms my soul.  

 

To view that which is outside your control as negative or unwanted is a drain of energy. Energy that can be put to better use. I will argue that your emotion, attention and energy ought to be put in line to that which is important, and not towards that of a trivial nature. 

 

Interpretations in this way can be altered with some intentional practice. 

 

Therefore, I encourage all those who have better things to do. To ask themself if there may be instances that you react unnecessarily.

If so, ask yourself: 

 

“What was it that brought about this negative interpretation?”

 

The patterns you see are the patterns you can change.

What we attend to becomes our lived experience.