Gasoline.
It fuels our vehicles and gives us energy to run certain tools such as a snowblower, especially in Wisconsin. Gasoline has another property that comes from its ability to ignite with a spark:
Fire.
Gasoline on fire makes for an explosion if used in the wrong way or place.
Have you ever seen a gas can expand when it was left in the heat too long?
Our mouths have a way of sparking someone else’s mind (gas can). We inadvertently say or do something without thinking, and there goes the triggers (sparks) ringing in another person’s mind and the chain of emotional explosion wrecks havoc on families, friendships, and careers.
What would you give to change the course of a conversation after you found yourself sparking another person?
Sometimes we dream of stopping our mouths after we say the damaging words. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could tap into a new strategy, which prevented those sparks?
Now, we are not talking 100% foolproof spark reduction as each of us is truly individually designed. However, even a 75% reduction in spark creating reduces the excess pain and triggers around you.
Now consider if each of us practiced this concept. What a healing world we would create!
At least in our own circle of influence. The idea that each one, reaches one creates a chain of events that propels others to ask, what’s new with you?
How close would you get to a gas can, filled with gasoline, if your friend was standing there with a lit match?
Think about how a simple flame could change everything by igniting the fuel.
Our minds are created to never forget a memory when attached to an emotion. Our emotional side is like gasoline and the trigger is a spark. When someone brings a match, poised to be struck and lit near our gas can (mind) we have an opportunity to use our own, mind created fire extinguisher!
The next experience, if you pay attention, will help you stay attuned to the potential fires, and your quick response to douse them will only increase the chance of limiting exposures to explosions.
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Toolbox Fire Extinguishers
In the toolbox of mindfulness, we can carry with us the image of a fire extinguisher. Ever ready and on hand 24/7. If we attribute the image of the fire extinguisher with an emotional connection, we will have even more access to it.
The powerful concept of creating a healthy response toolkit gives us the ability to squelch undesirable triggers the moment we feel the spark.
At first, you might find a few fires, which need quenching, as you practice directing the extinguisher. Sometimes the spark ignites before you have time to prepare.
Sometimes those new pathways will have dried grasses, which have not received watering and weeding so a spark ignites quickly.
These are the times where we own our weaknesses and our pain.
We can learn from the hazards of fire after the explosion, which by the way, creates an emotional context to attach the fire extinguisher!
So, even though you feel as if you’ve failed at extinguishing a flame, you are actually developing newer strategies and clearer pathways to walk through the never-ending trails your mind creates on a daily basis.
The next experience, if you pay attention, will help you stay attuned to the potential fires, and your quick response to douse them will only increase the chance of limiting exposures to explosions.
You have the amazing power of choice!
Rewiring a brain takes time and effort, each choice we make builds stronger pathways.
Each person you pass by is a gas can, a spark creator, and a fire extinguisher. What you say and what you do matters. There’s no need to walk on eggshells. Mindfully walk through life aware of potential fires, and acting in accordance with a spirit of kindness will go far in preventing explosions.
~Just a Thought by Pamela
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Previously published on Medium.com.
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Have you read the original anthology that was the catalyst for The Good Men Project? Buy here: The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood
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Photo credit: Pixaby, Free Image
