Easier Said Zen Done

Some time ago I was listening to a zen talk, or possibly watching a Star Wars movie, and it was suggested that as a practice one should question negative events as they arise. When something is sad, ask, “Is this sad?” When something is stressful, ask, “Is this stressful?” I thought it was an interesting concept and tried it here and there. I investigated some negative events for the inherent negativity and found none. It was a nice reminder about the nature of reality and intellectually fun, but it didn’t give me the big wowee zen moment.

Then, a few days ago I was driving to work in the rain, running late and annoyed with myself for not budgeting my time better. As I got closer to the studio, I started what has become a daily practice of reminding myself that stress and negativity are the antithetical to my work environment, and I must let them go before I walk through the front door of the studio. This is easier said than done, especially in traffic on 83 in the rain. I was having a hard time coming down from my stress high, when the question suddenly popped into my head.

Is this stressful?

I did not have answer, but I did have the big wowee zen moment: the point of the question is the question itself, that at any moment I may choose whether this is or is not stressful, sad, annoying, ridiculous, happy, etc. The cool thing is that this is something that I have always known; it just presented itself in a new, useful context.

The theme of being control of nothing but one’s own thoughts has been rattling around in my head lately. Abraham Lincoln said, “You’re only as happy as you make up your mind to be,” and he was right. You’re also only as stressed, annoyed, tense, etc.

Neato.