Calm at All Costs

I talked last blog about spiritual persistence. The discipline of creating spiritual harmony in the morning. At one with God. A moment spent seeking to attain gratitude and a glimpse of an inspiration that brings me awe. This spiritual space is a platform of perfection for me. The way I'd like to be. An emotional state of calm.

Then comes the challenge. The challenge of remaining calm at all costs. Never ruffled, never angry, avoiding negativity every step of the way. The discipline looks like this. First I must recognize that I have a negative thought, a bout with anger, perhaps a little jealousy. Then I must decide against it. And finally I have to decide to return to that moment of calm that I grasped early in the day.

Sometimes the exercise is merely keeping a smile on my face even when I'm ruffled. Other times the exercise might call for me finding a place to be alone for a second so I can meditate and calm down.
If I'm angry it might call for an apology.
But the beginning of a positive emotional outlook must begin with the determination to be positive.
And it's helpful to remind oneself of the payoff for positivity. The payoff is this: positivity makes one an attractive personality, gradually attracting good fortune over time. Really? Yeah really.