This week’s question from “Ask Us Anything” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
What universal law can I use to get through this week? I’m trying to manage an emotionally challenged relative who is in complete denial about something.
There are two laws that can help you out with this—the law of polarity and the law relativity.
First, the law of polarity states that everything has an opposite, and it’s equal and opposite.
Instead of looking at why this situation is challenging—look at how you could be grateful for having to interact with this person for a period of time.
How can you be grateful?
Secondly, the law of relativity states that everything “just is,” until you compare it to something else.
For example, let’s say I have a pen in my hand. The pen “just is.” It’s neither big nor small. It’s neither good nor bad. It’s neither fancy nor plain.
It just is.
If I had a bigger pen over here or a smaller pen over there—then I would say, “This pen is big, compared to that smaller one.” Or, “This pen is small compared to that bigger one.”
Every challenge we have in our life just is.
The story we give to a situation determines the weight it carries.
You can decrease the difficulty of having to work with someone who’s difficult by lessening your experience of it in your mind.
Tell yourself, “This isn’t bad; this is temporary. There’s something I can learn from this. It gives me the opportunity to practice gratitude, instead of focusing on what I don’t like about it.”