Insight or epiphany on negativity

I want to share a realisation that came in unexpectedly today. Sometimes, I tend to pay attention to the tiniest details. I understand the universe as a greater scheme of things that interconnect in an intelligent way and I am using my own intelligence to connect with that and that is what I practice in therapy as well.

So when the door in my therapy building needed a door stop to remain open because the buzzer wouldn’t work, I understood something profound. I think it is true in many situations in life and thought I wanted to share it with you. It can be summed up in this realisation:

Putting a stop to negativity can keep your door open.

For me, negativity is self-doubt, fear and that part of myself that sabotages my efforts so far. By going back and forth and not trusting myself, I jeopardise my well-being.

On the one hand, it is natural to have such doubts and having them can grow us further through CPD and updating our knowledge. However, the catch is that by not acknowledging our strengths, we might jeopardise ourselves and our callings for whatever we are meant to be doing here on earth. If you have found what your calling is, don’t go back and forth. Trust that there might be bumps in the road but you will benefit from the process, whatever the end result will be. And in order to keep your door open to other people, put a stop to negativity.

I sometimes consult the I Ching. For those that they don’t know the I Ching, it is a book of wisdom that is part of Confucianism and has been used for more than 3,000 years. Even reading some excerpts from there has the power to bring me back to my centre. So closely connected with the stop to negativity, I wanted to share the following excerpt that is part of hexagram 43 – Break-Through:

Even a single passion still lurking in the heart has the power to obscure reason. Passion and reason cannot exist side by side, therefore fight with unbending intent is necessary if the good is to prevail. In a resolute struggle of the good against evil, there are, however, definite rules that must not be disregarded, if it is to succeed.

First, a resolution must be based on a union of strength and friendliness.

Second, a compromise with evil is not possible; evil must under all circumstances be openly discredited. Nor must our own passions and shortcomings be glossed over.

Third, the struggle must not be carried on directly by force. If evil is branded, it thinks of weapons, and if we do it the favour of fighting against it blow for blow, we lose in the end because thus we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion. Therefore it is important to begin at home, to be on guard in our own persons against the faults we have branded. In this way, finding no opponent, the sharp edges of the weapons of evil becomes dulled. For the same reasons, we should not combat our own faults directly. As long as we wrestle with them, they continue victorious.

Finally, the best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good.

It is profound, isn’t it? Of course, evil and good are such strong polarities that sometimes when I read it put me off, however, I do think it is an excerpt with wisdom and insight overall.

So, what is your resolution in your own inner battle?

Photo of white wooden open door by Alfred Leung on Unsplash