My email inbox attracts lots of messages that I don't want or need. Most of it is from people or websites that I may have visited once, or from online vendors I have patronized in the past. Periodically, in order to prevent these unsolicited messages from flooding my mailbox and overwhelming the few that I actually want to read, I go through and click on the tiny "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the message. In that way I am able to reduce the distracting clutter and focus on the messages that are really important.
Life these days is a lot like my email inbox. I am constantly bombarded by messages from people I may know slightly, or from people I don't recall ever knowing, wanting my attention for their political cause, their candidate, their product or service, or their particular approach to spirituality and healing. These messages come over the television, on the phone, in newspapers and magazines, and of course over the Internet in emails or popup ads.
In addition to external messages, I hear ego's many voices calling on me to be concerned about this or that perceived problem, or so-and-so's personal attitude. Ego whispers in my ear that I can't rest until I have solved the problem or dealt with the interpersonal situation in a way that gratifies ego's need for protection and self-aggrandizement.
Just as I need to periodically cleanse my inbox, I realize now that I can perform a similar cleansing on my personal space. While I can't stop people from broadcasting their appeals, or ego from nagging, I can manage my own attention so as to minimize the effect of these distracting voices. By the following affirmations, I renounce giving any attention to things that would distract me or divert me from the Path of Love and Joy. I invite others to add their own suggestions:
- I renounce the need to judge the thoughts, speech, actions, or beliefs of others, however different they may be from my own. I affirm my own commitment to express Love and Joy in all that I say or do.
- I renounce the need to worry about my health or that of my loved ones. I affirm that the Universe will restore any temporary physical imbalance in its own time and its own way.
- I renounce the need to be concerned about the financial security of my family. I affirm that all our needs will be provided for and that we will have the opportunity to earn a generous living.
- I renounce any belief that the key to happiness lies outside my own heart and mind. I affirm that the source of Joy and Love is within me and is accessible at all times, and in all places.
And so it is.
Namaste.
