You’re at the beach. The warning signs are there. The birds are flying away. The animals are moving away from the beach. A hurricane is about to land, and it’s coming in with gale force winds plus 100mph. The palm tree says, “What’s the problem? Come on in.” It absorbs the wrath of the storm. It absorbs the 100 mph winds, and it bends, but doesn’t break and doesn’t brace the storm at all, doesn’t fight it, but lets it completely go through it. And then when it blows itself out, the palm tree pops back up and says, “Hey, sunshine, how’re doing?”
Most of us in life do not act like a palm tree. When something happens that we don’t like, we cross our arms, brace ourselves and, in many cases, throw out a tit for tat. Okay, well, that happened to me. Well, this is what I think about you.
But you know what? That’s not the palm tree.
When you have a negative, verbally or physically coming at you, so for just 60 seconds, become the palm tree. Lower your breathing. Get it to six to eight breaths a minute as quickly as you can.
Make no reaction and absorb the negativity. Just let it pass through. Acknowledge that you understand what the person is saying.
Now, once you’ve been the palm tree for 60 seconds, when the hurricane force is blowing itself out, now you can come back and make your point.
Be a palm tree when you drive in your car.
Be a palm tree in a traffic jam, on the motorway.
Be a palm tree in any confrontation with another human being. Learn to relax during these specific times of stress.
Is it any wonder that there are no oak trees on beaches?
It's your life, it's your choice... Make a choice to be flexible....
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