Not Taking Things Personally

Things happen in our life. We experience ups and downs , joys and sorrows, gains and losses, sunrises and sunsets. We have a tendency to personalize them. As result like Mark Manson says (in the awakin.org) we place ourselves onto to a self-esteem roller coaster, where our self-worth bobs up and own. I know I am not perfect. There are times when I have not been successful. What helps me to go through such experiences is to remind myself that I am not a failure but I have gone through a failure. The same way when things go my way I remind myself that I am not a success but I have gone through a successful experience. This way I do not get trapped by my ego.

I have gone through a number of experiences in my life that have taught me not take ups and downs in my life personally. How I perceive what happens is my life makes a big difference. When someone praises me or puts me down, I do not get inflated or depleted. Many times I take their perceptions of me as their self-projections.

Practicing discretion helps me separate milk from water called nirakshira viveka in Sanskrit. As I was growing up my father taught me this wise saying. When someone throws a judgmental or acritical arrow at me, I pause, take a few deep breaths make a wise choice, separate milk from water. Life is a school for us to learn how to live mindfully, how to go though ups and downs with equanimity and gratefully.
Namaste!