“My actions are my only true belongings.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
Wherever the mind goes the body follows. Our actions are the products of our mind. Watch the mind very carefully; we can see its full array of responses, expectations, reactions, and judgments from moment to moment. The mind also changes pretty quickly. Our feelings at 8am can be radically different by 9am. Let’s allow conscious awareness to be our anchor, knowing that our words and actions are our only belongings. Even our actions will one day be gone. People may not remember much about what we say, but they will always remember how we made them feel.
Buddha says that if you can’t help someone, at least don’t do them harm. If we cultivate a mind that produces positive causes and thereby positive actions, we can expect positive effects. Understanding that in any given moment we can be a healing agent to those around us, gives our actions even that much more meaning. It makes no difference how someone may be acting towards us; we can only own how we respond. If we can daily carve out some time to be aware of how we are being in the world, we may be able to shift our actions. It is worthy to note that this task may be a challenge; our ability to deal with challenging people only grows when we begin to understand the things that trigger our upset. Once we realize this we can begin to be more mindful of our actions in response to their behavior. We can show up with a great deal of love and compassion, for we know what their suffering feels like as we’ve been there not all that long ago. Handle your actions with great care and the people around you will blossom, including you.
Bronwyn Morgan is the Feature Spirit Contributor for CONNECT and is the founder and resident meditation coach at Bliss In Me Meditation. Visit www.blissinme.com.
