The pain was so intense that I didn't care anymore. They had betrayed me and I was done. I stood there atop the stone wall, numb from it all, closed my eyes and let myself fall backwards...
Now usually in a dream sequence, when you fall to your supposed doom, you usually wake up from the shock. However, my dream continued to the realisation that I had fallen atop two innocent children. Luckily, it wasn't too horrific, I had only ended up breaking one of their toys, but I remember feeling terrible that they were so upset and that it could have been so much worse. I woke up baffled and slightly unnerved by this dream but with the realisation that there are some really valuable lessons to be learnt here.
The first valuable lesson is that being mindful of our surroundings is imperative to the safety of ourselves and other peoples'. We cannot be 'laissez faire' when it comes to what we do on a day-to-day basis. In the dream, I had not checked around me when I chose to fall backwards and the consequence was a broken toy and two very upset children. This example highlights how not being mindful can cause damage. In real life one exceptionally common example of not being mindful is the habit of checking/texting on our phones and walking. Now I understand the temptation to walk and text, when you are busy, or you are running late. I understand it because I have fallen prey to it myself often enough. But the reality is this is not the right thing to do and it is incredibly dangerous.
I can personally attest to this as I have had a few minor bad experiences of texting and walking. In the past, I have unintentionally bumped into people and caused them aggravation and I have once tripped and gotten a black eye from walking and texting, neither of which felt good. I was lucky and neither of these had caused anything majorly bad to happen. But the fact is if I had bumped into someone who was old and they had fallen, that could be potentially very dangerous for them as their bones can be very brittle and the shock could make them have a heart attack. Or worse still, if you accidentally bump into someone whilst texting, you could accidentally knock them into the road. We need to make it a habit that if we have a text we really need to make that we move aside on the street to a safe spot, stop and then text and thus ensure that we don't unintentionally cause any accidents. This is just one of many examples of how not paying attention to the world around us can have negative impacts. It is our moral responsibility to actively try and pay attention to the world around us. We need to make sure that we are not creating any safety hazards and that our actions will not create negative impacts for others.
The second valuable lesson is that we need to not get so lost in our own problems that it blinds us from reality. In my dream I felt so bad that the only thing I could think about was ending it there and then. But this blinded me to my surroundings. I didn't think to look around and see that my own problems weren't the only thing that mattered in the world. The safety of the two children were more important. Of course, this is easy to say when you are not in a state. However, the reality is that we need to find a way to have a better control on our emotions. We need to find safe places to let our emotions out and to seek help when it feels too much. We cannot just let our emotions dictate our decisions. If we do we risk making bad choices that can negatively impact ourselves, the people in our lives and the world around us. Our initial response isn't always the best response to a problem. We need to make sure, that when we make a decision we have a clear head about it and are making a properly informed and well-balanced choice.
One way that can help us get a better control on our emotions is meditation. It can be a really great way of learning how to let our emotions pass and not act on them. And some ways to get a clearer head can be to journal and to talk to friends. These activities can really help lift the clutter from our minds and help us make sense of what is going on in our lives.
I hope that you always remember to stay attuned to your environment and that you can always make well-balanced, aware decisions.
Much Love
Naomi Leila Xx
p.s. Please leave a comment on things you do to be more mindful of your environment.
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