A Question That’ll Change Your Life

A Question That’ll Change Your Life

A Question That'll Change Your Life | Add A Little Self-Love with Jarlin Sung

Last Wednesday night, I had a panic attack.

I was setting up the new daily lesson from the Awaken Your Inner Guide self-study program to go out automatically the next morning, when I realized that something was wrong. For some reason, my email list manager was grabbing the wrong list of recipients.

I quickly checked all the lessons I had set up previously, and sure enough, every single one had the same issue. They were all set to go out the next morning at the scheduled time, except they were going out to the wrong people!

It was nine o’clock at night; I had no idea how to fix this problem; the technical support team for the email list manager was long gone for the day. What was I going to do?!

I wish I could tell you – being a life coach and all – that I was calm and collected; that I took a deep breath, accepted the situation, took what action I could, and went to bed.

That didn’t happen.

I did eventually figure out a work-around, but not before I spent hours panicking, worrying, lamenting about how unfair it was that the one night I could’ve gone to bed early, I had to deal with this problem.

To make things worse, the saga did not end there. Over the next two days, I spent one frustrating hour after another in live chat with technical support, but they had no satisfactory explanations or solutions for me. By Friday afternoon, my level of frustration had reached a level so high that I couldn’t be productive or get anything else done.

I felt completely out of control and helpless.

However, as frustrated as I was, I knew that I was the one who chose my experience.

In fact, I could’ve shifted my perspective and saved myself a lot of grief and suffering with one simple yet powerful question:

What is it here to teach me?

Let me explain.

When we come face-to-face with a frustrating situation, especially one in which we have little control over what’ll happen, or one in which there’s really no action to be taken on our part to improve the circumstance, we tend to resort to the one thing we think we can do, which is to argue our case, to ourselves.

We say things like, “But it just makes no sense why it would happen like this!” or “These types of things just shouldn’t happen!”

None of these sayings are actually helpful in resolving the problem or situation: we say them because they justify the frustration and anger and helplessness we feel.

What we don’t realize is that these sentiments also keep us stuck as victims in the situation at hand. Instead of accepting the situation for what it is, we argue with it, and in the process allow it to frustrate and anger us over and over again.

As spiritual teacher Bryon Katie says, “When I argue with reality, I lose – but only 100 percent of the time.”

Think about that…you lose only 100 percent of the time.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the odds.

The good news is, there’s an alternative. Instead of holding on to your right to be indignant and playing the victim, you can choose to shift your mindset and change your perspective, and this question will help you do just that:

What is it here to teach me?

The question will help you do three things:

#1. Accept Reality
The reality will not change just because you think it shouldn’t have happened. Arguing simply prolongs the frustration and anger you feel. You can’t move forward until you accept reality.

#2. Focus On What Is Good
The question helps you look for the lesson you can carry forward. Every situation in life happens for a reason. Every single one has something to teach us. And have you noticed how life has a funny way of putting the same lesson in front of us over and over again until we learn it?

#3. Take Back Your Power
The question also reminds you that you have the power to choose how you want to react to a situation. Do you want to re-live the indignation and frustration over and over again, or do you want to take what you can out of it and move forward? Being stuck doesn’t feel good, but you don’t have to be there. You have the power to decide.

For anything that is frustrating you right now, ask this question: WHAT IS IT HERE TO TEACH ME? via @jarlinsung http://bit.ly/2mkhM1D

Now, am I saying you are not allowed to be angry or frustrated or indignant, ever?

Nope.

In fact, I encourage you to honor your emotions. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that you are the person in charge here. You get to decide when you want to stop being angry and move on.

When I finally realized that it was imperative to do some self-coaching and ask myself the question, I came up with these learnings and realizations:

  1. Technical issues are to be expected as part of running a business.
  2. I am resourceful and tech savvy enough to figure out a work-around.
  3. A checklist is useful in ensuring things are working properly.
  4. There is a way to talk to technical support so they clearly understand what issue you are encountering and what help you need. Let’s face it, as good as a rant feels, it doesn’t help anybody.
  5. 24/7 tech support is important to me, and something that should figure into my decision when selecting a service in the future.

As I answered the question, I found my anger and frustration subside and melt away.

The issue isn’t resolved completely yet, but I’m okay with that. I’m no longer frustrated, I’m no longer angry. In fact, I’m grateful, for the fact that this happened when I am just starting out so the implication was limited, and that I was able to figure out and implement a work-around.

In light of how much worse it could’ve been, I’m actually feeling pretty lucky.

Now that, is life changing. 🙂

It’s your turn to put the question into practice.

Is there a situation in your life that’s keeping you from moving forward? How can you shift your perspective?

Share in the comments below.

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