May the force be with you. The battle between good and bad, easy and hard, healthy and unhealthy is never-ending. Star Wars is one of the best series of all time that plays off of this age-old philosophy of yin and yang. What I love about Star Wars is the fact that the Jedi Masters are true masters of self. They don’t fall into what is easy. They make tough and conscious decisions to do good, to not allow themselves to be controlled by emotions. This is the power of meditation, to be a true master of oneself.
I am sure many of us understand the power of anger and how easy it is to let that emotion take control of you. Sixteen year old me would have been Darth Vader for sure. Anger is not the only force that many of us easily succumb to, it is impulse itself that many of us have a hard time curbing. The impulse to drink too much, or eat a whole thing of Oreos or to skip the gym. Whatever the easiest choice is to make at a given moment is often the choice many of us make. This usually does not equal a disciplined individual. They who give in to impulse is someone who can be controlled. I do not believe any of us want to be controlled, if you are realizing that you may be controlled by your emotions or impulses give some of these practices a try.
Meditation
Focus on your breath
Do something you don’t like and don’t bi..complain
I have heard time and time again “I can’t meditate, I can’t sit and think about nothing.” Without getting into a whole Seinfeld rant about nothing, meditation is not about clearing the mind, or thinking about “nothing”. Meditation is about building the skill of awareness, the more you practice the skill, the stronger it becomes. This is the rule for building any skill, practice practice practice. When I hear I can’t, to me, it means don’t want to, which is fine, however that is what should be said. I think the person who thinks meditation isn’t for them is the person who would benefit the most from the practice. Creating a “higher level” of awareness helps us realize the moments when we are about to give in to impulse, it allows us to stay crystal clear in thought and decision making. This is once again why strength reigns supreme, the strength of your practice or skill makes everything else easier.
A way of training your awareness is to focus on your breath. Anytime you find yourself drifting away, draw your attention back to your breath. This will immediately calm you, especially in situations that are agitating, and it will also divert your focus off of annoying stimuli and onto life. Since life doesn’t happen without breathing, the realization that we are still in fact breathing, makes a lot of things feel petty in comparison. This allows us to take a step back and have a better gander into a situation. You want to practice focusing on your breath in moments when you are already calm, that way when you need to call upon this practice, you are already well versed in that realm. Waiting to only focus on your breath in moments of heat is a sure-fire way to blow a gasket.
The least pleasant of the strategies is doing something you don’t like or don’t want to do, and not complain about it. Life is known for throwing lemons, so getting used to making lemonade even before lemonade is needed will guarantee when the day comes, you’ll be prepared to make the most delicious batch of lemonade known to mankind. A lot of people go days, weeks, months without truly difficult situations arising, this can leave us unprepared to deal with these tough moments when they happen. If you habitually do things that you do not want, you will have useful ways to deal with less pleasant affairs when they pop up out of nowhere.
A true Jedi Master has hit there 10,000 hours/reps practicing patience, mindfulness, and self-acceptance. They do not give in to temptation mindlessly. They are in full control of their actions. Be in the driver's seat of your life, not the passenger.