Cultivating joy 1

"I try to view worries and concerns as a heavy mist that tries to dampen my day.
They have no true purpose in life, so I simply blow them away."

This works on two levels for me, although I still need much practice before I achieve what I believe rather than simply see what I should do.

Firstly, if a major problem hits my life with a loud THUD, I used to go into shock, then get angry at the injustice, blame the origin of the problem on a physical 'other' origin, and tremble and sweat in fear until I slept and wept my way into dealing with the results and suitable action surfaced into my mind. After studying Buddhism, I now have a new way to deal with these major league hits from life.

Now, when a major problem arrives, I can stay stable and look it in the face. I do not need to enter the shock zone to stay clear minded, fly into fury at what my own karma has resulted in giving back to me as a new lesson, spend time cursing and hating the surfacing point of my own problem, or in physical inability and despair. I can see that these hassles have to be lived through and dealt with, and that doing so calmly does so with greater efficiency.

I am currently learning not to 'freak out' but to remain understanding in these situations. I am 'getting there'!! I also need to cultivate JOY in order to remind myself that they come as lessons to be learned, rather than as a personal attack, something aimed at destroying my ability to live. Without the continual regrowth and recognition of JOY, these can easily be seen as major problems rather than karmic lessons, and therefore be treated with the wrong attitude.