Have you ever experienced an aha moment right smack dab in the middle of an interaction with someone who is, once again, pushing your buttons? All of sudden it’s as if the curtains that had been drawn are suddenly thrown open and the light comes flooding in.
Mindfulness is that light of awareness. And when it shines into the darkness of unconscious behaviors there is no more denying the truth of the situation. It’s time to wake up and make some changes – or choose to continue allowing others to manipulate you.
Examples abound. Guilt trips about some unspoken expectation that wasn’t met. Passive aggressive attempts to control you. Gaslighting. In short, mind games. When we’re operating from our ego mind, it’s easy to NOT see these mind games and instead fall victim to them.
Mindfulness is an excellent tool to help you see and feel these behaviors for what they are – whether they come from someone else or from yourself. And meditation is the great tool for cultivating mindfulness.
We humans learn to lie to ourselves. Often it is easier to do that than to recognize the truth. Recognizing manipulative behavior in our loved ones means that we have to admit that they are hurting us in some way, and recognizing it in ourselves can be very hard to swallow. Often it’s easier to lie and pretend we don’t see it and keep playing the game.
Shining light on these areas offers you a chance to do things differently. If you’ve been allowing someone to take advantage of you because you had a blind spot, shining light on it gives you the opportunity to change the behavior and not allow yourself to be used.
Mindfulness is the ray of light that shines on these dark spots illuminating behaviors that may be ripe for change. Meditation is the ftool for cultivating mindfulness. Meditate with me today.