When we are unhappy there is usually some sort of block preventing us from experiencing the full beauty of life that exists all around us all the time. When we are able to accept what is preventing our happiness, it allows the blockage to move through our energetic system.
Acceptance does not mean enabling hurtful, disrespectful behaviour. If behaviour is at the expense or ourselves or another, the most compassionate thing we can do is put a boundary around that behaviour expressing its that it is not acceptable to us.
All compassion begins within, and radiates outwards. If we are compassionate and loving with ourselves, we are compassionate with others. Nobody hurts another when they are living from their heart-space, in a state of presence that lies beyond reactivity. This is because when we are connected to our true divine loving nature, to hurt another would be like hurting ourselves.
Peace within eventuates when we have made peace with the most uncomfortable parts of ourselves. When we are no longer reactive to external situations, but instead remain consistently connected to our inner sense of peace, we feel more stable and strong.
When we no longer feel an emotional charge towards certain situations, we will feel as though we are flowing with life. If someone says to us that we are competitive and we feel emotionally changed, such as with anger, hurt or disappointment, there is a chance that we are competitive to some degree.
This competitiveness is usually based on the various influences in our life while growing up, that is our conditioning. In our natural or non-conditioned state—our wise loving state—we know that there is enough for all. Enough love, money, friendships, positions and resources. It is our fear that makes us competitive and drives us to believe that we have to win at someone else’s expense.
When we focus inward and lovingly observe any reactive emotions such as how we feel when we are called competitive, the charge around the feelings will dissipate. Once this charge is removed we are unlikely to be triggered when called competitive again. It will be like water off a duck’s back! In a non-reactive state we are more likely to think that the comment is “just the other persons opinion”.
The other possibility is that another’s competitiveness can trigger us. We may become aware of how competitive people irritate us. This is because the world is like a mirror to ourselves—when we have an internal competitive streak—it is likely that a competitive world is reflected back to us.
Our thoughts and emotions create our energetic field (often this is unconscious) and like attracts like. When we feel joyous and free inside, we will have a sense of space and flow within and things are more likely to go well in our external world.
When we accept all parts of ourselves, even the parts of us may have not been so comfortable with in the past, we accept the duality of life. Life is made up of opposites, good-bad, happy-sad, life-death. When we accept this rather than fight against it, we accept the inherent isness of life: that everything is as one. Rather than becoming split off and disconnected from life, we feel integrated, whole, happy and healthy once more. This is our natural state.
The true magic of this process is that as we accept the parts of ourself that we may previously not have liked (also known as our shadow); we automatically, genuinely and authentically accept others exactly as they are.
As we step into our light-filled presence, that is what we connect to in those around us. When we are feeling unhappy with our lives, others negative behaviours can affect us negatively too and drag us down. However when we are at our best and feel all is going well for us, others negativity can just bounce off us. In fact when we feel happy and joyous, it helps us to see the best in others and remind them of their divine, loving nature.