Stress: Your Worst Enemy
Due to stress, many of us have endless conversations that go on in our heads and keep up us at night:
“Should I do this or that?”
“I wish I had not said that”
“How do I deal with this difficult person?”
“If only… ”
And on and on and on…
Excessive internal dialogue can drive us crazy and become our own worst enemy.
I am sure you have heard many times that even if we don’t have control over where we are born, who our family is, and many outside circumstances, we still have power over our thoughts and how we play the deck of cards we have been dealt. Easier said than done!
We all want to be kind, loving, diplomatic and harmonious, but when faced with stressful situations, anger or frustration can flare up inside and the internal dialogue goes into full gear.
Your Self: Friend or Foe?
Two of my favorite verses in the Bhagavad-Gita are:
Let a man raise his self by his Self, let him not debase his Self; he alone, indeed, is his own friend, he alone his own enemy. (6:5)He who has conquered his self by his Self alone is himself his own friend; but the self of him who has not conquered his self will behave with enmity like a foe. (6:6)
There are different levels of our self — the active, surface thinking level of our mind, the deeper level of our feelings, and then the most peaceful level of our being. We can experience this most silent level of our being by transcending through meditation.