“Out beyond the ideas of right doing and wrongdoing, there is a field…I’ll meet you there.”
Have you ever noticed that human beings have a strong tendency to want to be right. We enjoy debate and calling out the “other” side as wrong. This need to sort everything into right or wrong and good or bad is clearly taking its toll on our population as things seem to become more decisive.
The truth is there is no such thing as right or wrong. Things just are. We decide if we deem something as right or wrong, the thing itself, is neither. Nothing has inherent meaning except the meaning we assign to it. Because of our natural instincts to survive, we automatically assess people and situations.
Is it wrong to stab someone with a knife? What if you are the surgeon and you are trying to save a person’s life? We must consider the persons intention. The action alone holds no meaning.
Have you ever been late for an appointment? You conjure up all kinds of consequences you will certainly be facing. You begin to predict everything that is going to go wrong because you are late. Then you arrive at the destination, only to find out that your timing is perfect.
It’s the same for objects as well as opinions, ideas and attitudes. We think we know what someone meant, or we see someone doing something and we immediately decide what we think about it. The problem is that the meaning we assign to things is typically wrong. Therefore, we end up with needless worry, stress and anxiety due to the meaning we put on something instead of the intended meaning. It could be as simple as someone gives you a look and you interpret it to mean they are upset with you. Later you find out that they did have a strange look, but it had absolutely nothing to do with you.
Take some time throughout your day to notice how often you apply meaning to something that is simply out of habit and not even true. You will notice that you regularly add stress to your life that is completely unnecessary by adding meaning to things that simply don’t apply. Notice the opinions you will come up with that have no basis.
We waste a lot of time and energy applying our own meaning to things. The beauty of the exercise is all you must do is notice yourself doing this. Just notice. Don’t try to change yourself, fix yourself or adjust how you are. Just observe. Watch yourself coming up with automatic conclusions.
By the power of observation this habit will end eventually and be replaced by a deeper sense of wonder, possibility and openness.
