Taking The High Road

Taking the high road is not always easy. We have to rise above where we normally walk, where we normally think, where we normally speak. I will be the first to admit that most times I think of taking the high road after the fact, always wishing it had been my first choice.

The definition of "the high road" is ...The most positive, diplomatic, or ethical course.

It takes practice, it takes deliberate thought patterns and course of action.

When people criticize us, the first thought for many of us is to bring them down, make sure we invalidate what was said about us. We often rant about how we wish people would stop criticizing us and then go on to do the very same thing about that person. Talk about a double standard, but we don't seem to see what we are doing in the same light as the very thing we are complaining about. Maybe its our nature, maybe its just the easiest way for us. Maybe its the only way we can deal with the initial criticism. But there has to be a better way.... I know there is. I wonder why we have so much trouble just letting things go, just letting others have opinions, just let someone speak what they see as truth, supporting the freedom of speech on both sides of the coin, not just our own.

No secret to any of my long time readers, I love the Dalai Lama's writings. He is wise and he is not one to take on negativity, something I strive for. He has profound wisdom on letting negative things become your greatest teacher. Stepping back and looking at things from both sides. Letting go of the negative feelings and emotions. Letting anger find no foot hold.

I want to be able to just let things go. To not take things in that are not mine to own, or have to value to simmer in my heart. To let someones comments just be that, a comment and not let it get beyond my frontal lobe. To see that each one of us, has a right to believe as we do, even when its so different from what we feel, what we believe.

If I think, act and react without being filled with negative emotions, and by this I am talking about the reactions that make us feel bad inside, which I am sure you figured out already, then we can maintain a calm thought pattern, maintain our ethic's, our moral high road becomes easier to stay on. We can see things for what they are, a comment, a word, a deed that is just for that moment, becoming bigger only if we allow it to by feeding it, or allowing it to be fed by others.

Blogging is a tough place to maintain positive thought at times, because we don't all agree. I may believe one thing and another person sees it in total reverse. I can only speak for how I see things in my own life, what I feel I have learned in my 53 years. I can only share what has worked for me and what has not worked. It feels increasingly difficult for me to share my thoughts because I know someone out there in blogland will take issue with it. Its not my intention to make anyone angry or unhappy with sharing my thoughts. Simply take what I say as how it is intended, my thought on a subject, not some gospel truth. My truth for me, not for you or you or you. You must find your own path, your journey is your own, your family unique, your life, like no others. Only one truth is in each of us, no matter what we believe, we all desire to be happy.

"I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.”

~The Dalai Lama~