Can You Find Serenity When Negativity Constantly Surrounds You?

So I have this past few weeks filled with negativity.  Negativity from the candidates, negativity in the news, negativity surrounding my personal life.

A couple of days ago a friend said she didn't understand how I could be so calm with the issues that were surrounding me.  I responded with the following, "I have my moments of being bitchy, but it's only to those who are deserving of my being a bitch and then I take a deep breath and let it go." There's absolutely no reason to be angry or mean to people who had nothing to do with the problem. I wish the politicians could learn this lesson.  I wish people I deal with on a day to day basis could learn this lesson and sometimes I wish my family could learn this lesson.

On Saturday I volunteered at an Oktoberfest event that my Rotary Club sponsored.  It's a huge fundraising event for us and for the 1st time we had a rainy day (the past 3 years we have lucked out with sunny crisp fall days) but as I looked around I saw joy, fun, and lots of conversation, kids games being played, bounce houses being enjoyed and eating, drinking and dancing.  While the attendance was less than last year it was clear that the event was a success.  How does this relate to the title of this blog?  Well, here it is - my leg injury flared up, possibly due to the rain, possibly due to a lot of standing and walking, but the only way anyone would have know was that I periodically sat down to rest it.  One time was to actual eat and the other times were to take photos or video of the bands and dancers.  I was hurting but there was no reason to involve others when there was nothing they could do, why shouldn't I keep enjoying the positivity that surrounded me.  It actually made me feel better.

Writing this blog has taught me a great deal of how I interact with those around me.  If I focus on anger, pain and aggravation that's what I project onto others, but if I can instead locate my serenity then that's what I project.  If I feel content then how can others around me not feel the same?

I am a realist, I do know that there are people in this world that focus only on negativity and I can't change that so the best you can do when surrounded by those types is to not react to it.  I try to maintain my serenity, breath deep and speak calmly.  It doesn't help any one to fall into the person's negative patterns.  I WON'T DO THAT!

So when surrounded by negativity, react calmly, maintain your serenity and the person's negativity will have no place to go.

Maintain Serenity.