Self Referral or Object Referral

Deepak Chopra tells the story about a man who lived in a village and was very poor but he had a beautiful horse.  The people in the village thought he was so rich because he had the prized horse and considered him very lucky.  The man responded "such is life."  The man's son was riding the horse and fell off and broke his leg and the villagers told the man how sad it was and how sorry they were for him and he responded "such is life."  Then war broke out in the country and all the able bodied young men had to go to war and the villagers told the man how lucky he was because his son didn't have to go and he responded, "such is life."  The story goes on and on but the man continues to respond to all situations with the same response.  Deepak suggests that the man's responses were based on self referral meaning that his response was not based on the object or circumstances around him but were based on how he chose to look at life.

Today, I felt like I was on a teeter totter and things were going up and down.  Hard as I tried it was difficult for me to keep myself from being manipulated by the circumstances around me.  I wish I could say that I looked at each experience and merely said "such is life," but I did not.  Things were good and I was happy, then challenges came up and I was worried, then more good things happened and by the end of the day I was exhausted from allowing myself to react to each incident.  I hope that by being more aware of myself  I will practice more self referral and not allow my emotions to be bounced about like a tennis ball. 

That is my intent and actions follow intent.  Such is life.