Some people you meet in Life will be
cantankerous, scheming and unethical to the core. Let them be.
Recently someone we know worked in a despicable
manner against our interest. It was hurting to see how we were treated and how
our self-esteem was trampled upon. We did not protest. We did not whine. We did
not rant. We did not fight. We merely exited from the relationship.
10 years ago, I would have kicked up a ruckus. I
would have fought. I would have wanted to get even. I would have pushed hard to
justify ourselves. I remember during one ghastly episode (which I have shared
in my Book “Fall
Like A Rose Petal”) with an unethical client, in 2003, I
launched a 45-minute tirade against the CFO of the client’s company over the
phone. It was a monologue – only I spoke, actually, I howled non-stop for those
45 minutes! When I was tired and done, and could bawl no more, the gentleman at
the other end of the line calmly said, “Never waste your energy banging your head
against a wall, AVIS. Not worth it.” But I did not heed his sage counsel. I
threatened him and his company of dire consequences. For weeks on end, I tried
to pursue options to sue them in international courts (they are an MNC). It was
very late in the day when I realized I had I wasted precious time and inner
peace on a dead cause.
Mercifully, I am not that way anymore. This is what
Life has taught me: People will be who they are. And what they do to you, need
not__and must not__change the way you deal with them. A common response we,
good, ethical, warm and kind folks, have to such people is that we become
depressive or angry or vengeful. This only creates more negative energy in us.
And that, you will agree, is simply not worth inviting into your Life!
Here’s a Zen story which is awakening.
Two monks were washing their bowls in the river
when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it
up and set it upon the bank. In the process the scorpion stung him. Unmindful,
he went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell into the river and
began drowning. The monk saved the scorpion one more time and was again stung.
The other monk, who was watching this spectacle,
asked him, “Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know it's
nature is to sting?”
“Because,” the first monk replied, “to save it is
my nature.”
So, stay true to your nature. And let no one affect
it. This does not mean you must suffer in silence. There surely are other means
to express yourself than to retaliate in a similar manner as the one who’s
causing you pain. When you are filled with anger and act from that impulse, you
breed negativity in you. When you are negative, your inner peace gets affected.
When your inner peace is disturbed, you are held hostage by debilitating
emotions. And that essentially means you are not living free!
Think about it: Do you really want to
forsake your freedom because someone acted foolishly?
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