Fleeting Feelings
One day you feel strongly about something, the next day you don’t. One day you feel nothing, the next day you feel something different. This could be about any thing, any task, any idea, any person, whatever.
Our day-to-day, moment-to-moment changes in feelings control most of our lives and it starts each day when the alarm goes off. If you depend on your feelings to get up, most likely you will not get up on time.
Feelings are fleeting ! That is the conclusion most wise men reached to. It’s good to read such theories but how can you live the theory , how can you realize it ?
Try this small daily practice that you can incorporate in your daily schedule. It’s about the way you take a shower.
Technique
Start your bath normally with whatever temperature suits you and gradually decrease it as per your comfort and finally end the shower bath with the lowest setting possible.
While you go through different temperatures , it is important to remind yourself repeatedly of the Wisdom / Theory that
“Feelings are Fleeting... they come & go.. But ‘You’ are the unchanging observer of feelings and therefore you are not your feelings”
When the water is warm, you FEEL comfortable & cozy. When it starts getting colder, your feelings start changing. You will start to FEEL a slight discomfort. As it gets colder, you wanna dance / jump out of the shower/ sing :P ! In this entire slow journey from Comfy-cozy setting to Jumpy-chill, Just try maintaining the practice of reminding yourself of the wisdom and try remaining in composure and observing the feelings as they change.
Wisdom of this practice is that no matter what the external conditions (Water temperature in this case) are, it cannot affect you ! — Age old wisdom that you are the soul and not the body. You are the Master , not the slave of the body.
Long way for me , or for all of us, to get to that level of wisdom maybe and so another tool in our kit doesn’t harm. Let the Decreasing Temperature Showers begin ! ;)
