When the holidays roll around, who do you give gifts to: people you hate, or people you like?
This isn’t rhetorical, I really want you to answer.
Okay, so I’m taking a guess here and thinking that you likely said that you give gifts to people you like, and that you don’t give gifts to people you hate. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense to me though, is why you give the gift of your energy to the things that you hate. If a specific topic or person angers or enrages you, then why do you give that topic or person the gift of your energy?
I’ll tell you why: Because you willingly allow yourself to be controlled like a puppet by the things you hate. So here’s a helpful tip: Stop attaching yourself to the things you hate. Cut the strings by refusing to give energy to the things that enrage you. Keep the gift of your energy for the things in your life that deserve it.
If you consciously allow yourself to keep checking in on the types of news stories that anger you, for example, then you are choosing to give the gift of your energy to what you don’t like, and if that’s your choice, so be it; but I would invite you to at least be mindful of how much attention and energy you spend on the things that you dislike, because the more you attach yourself to the things you dislike, the more you begin to unconsciously exude the very same traits of what is seemingly ever-present for you.
Let me give you a real-life example. I know someone who is extremely negative. This person dislikes just about everyone he encounters, and no matter what is happening, he finds a way to put a negative or pessimistic spin on it. But there is a particular person who irks this individual the most. Interestingly, the person who irks him the most is someone whom he perceives to be negative all the time (I seriously cannot make this stuff up). This person in my example is simply unable to see that because he has expended so much energy talking about how negative this other person in his life is, he has actually become the type of negative person whom he dislikes so much.
It’s important not to get hung up on the person in my example, and instead, focus on yourself: Take a look at the things you dislike, and then examine how frequently you allow those things to come into your foreground. The more present you allow the things that anger you to become, the more you are giving the gift of your energy to the things you hate. And if this describes you, then here is my advice: Stop doing that. Keep the gift of your energy so that you can willingly give it to the things that deserve it.