I was reading Thich Nhat Hanh again. He was taking about the peace movement in the US during the Vietnam war and how filled with anger and hate a lot of the protesters were. We achieved our goal, but with death and open wounds in our society that took decades to heal. I don’t think things have changed a lot over the last 20 or 30 years. People who are making a stand for peace, integrity in government, and other very good causes often seem to be caught up in rage.
Of course, I can understand that. For some reason we have been attracting tradesmen this year that have stretched simple jobs out into 9 or 10 months. This is nuts and I experience wonder and amazement every time I think of how many of these folks (all previously reliable) that we have attracted.
In the face of frustration over what is right, it is easy to get angry, but all that does is rob me of precious minutes in my life that I give over to rage instead of peaceful and productive pursuits. Since I learned the “live every minute rule” – where, by focusing on the minute, I am much more aware of the value of time than if I think in terms of months, years or decades – I have spent more time on figuring out how to get what I want rather than getting mad.
In most cases, simple ongoing, polite pressure to do what is right seems to be working, and it is a lot more pleasant for me than anger. Time will tell if it works out as beautifully as I want, but I do believe I am heard better through the honey than through the vinegar.
This is Ghandi rather than Watts. Time will tell, but I prefer keeping anger and frustration out of the equation.
Tags: Ghandi, live for the moment, meditation, mindfulness, protest
