Too much of a good thing

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You’ve heard the saying “too much of a good thing can be bad for you…”, well that’s more or less what to look out for this month. Tevet, more commonly referred to in English as the month of Capricorn, is filled with an overabundance of energy, and if we are not ready or prepared to receive all this energy—much like having all the electric appliances in your house running at the same time—there most likely will be a short circuit.

The reason for the overabundance this month is the lack of a shield that acts as a filter and protective mechanism, thus preventing an influx. Think of it as an electrical wire without its plastic casing – touch a live wire and the results can be shocking. In fact, there are three months in the zodiac that have this effect – Cancer, Leo and Capricorn, of course.

These months are often recognized as challenging times of the year because they are filled with judgment, and negativity. But fear not, that’s just one side of the coin. The deeper aspect of these months is how we can transform all this excess to benefit us. Surely if there is a lot of negativity to be wary of, then there is just as much, if not more positivity to welcome into our lives.

The Zohar explains that when a remarkable infusion of Light, or more simply energy, comes to a person who is not ready for it, or who is behaving with a lack of human dignity or love towards another—that energy causes a short circuit, leading to negativity; specifically, in this month, it is the emotion of anger.

The kabbalists have taught for many years that anger has the power to eliminate all for which we strive, our gifts, blessings, and most important relationships. Scary, I know, but like most things in life, anger has both negative AND positive attributes. It is a formidable emotion that escapes the control of even the most spiritual among us, and while anger can be destructive, it can also be an influential motivator for positive change when used constructively.

Understanding what anger actually is can also help us a great deal this month, and anger is defined as the emotion related to one’s psychological interpretation of having been wronged, offended or denied. When we feel either of these interpretations, the immediate reaction is anger – it is our go-to emotion that compliments of our ego, or what kabbalists refer to as our Negative Side (Kind of like the dark side of the Force in Star Wars.)

The voice of the ego makes us think that we want to become angry. Kabbalist Rav Ashlag teaches that our ego, and the Desire to Receive for the Self Alone is actually not part of who we are at all, but rather our worst enemy. In fact, Rav Ashlag goes so far as to say that the only time we should ever feel anger is toward our ego, for all the harm it wants to bring to our lives.

We ALL find it challenging when things don’t work out the way we hoped. When we can shift our consciousness and know that it’s happening just the way it is meant to, and that every negative situation in our lives helps mold us into who we are meant to be, not only will it help not getting what you want feel less painful, but at some point you can come to appreciate the process of transforming perceived “pain” into pleasure.

Interestingly, anger is really a secondary emotion. The primary emotion we feel under the circumstances of being denied, offended or wronged usually passes through us so rapidly that it sneaks by completely unnoticed. Anger tends to emerge when we experience intense frustration, fear and hurt, and the reason the secondary response beats the primary emotion to the punch (pardon the pun) is because anger demands our attention.

This month, resist the tendency to become angry with people, or circumstances, no matter how hard your ego tries to justify it to you. Although emotions arise in our consciousness, they are NOT our consciousness. We have the power to flip the anger and banish it from our lives. Alternatively, we can use our anger to create positive change. Capricorn offers up peace and harmony in order to counteract chaos – as long as we act with care and caution, we can transform this entire month into something truly miraculous, because we are given the ability to fight and overcome the energies of the month, as well as the negative aspects of ourselves by way of replacing our feelings of anger with love and generosity.

Be open to the idea that not getting what you want is actually what you need in order to continuously live the happy, fulfilled and blessed life intended for you. This is a month when everything and anything can happen, because nothing is there to limit us (the shield is down) – turn the negatives into positives, treat everyone with an overabundance of love and kindness, and be mindful of reacting in anger

THOUGHT TO ACTION:

Identify a trigger, one that keeps happening and causing you anger. Fix it! Eliminate it! Work around it! And if that’s not possible, accept it and let your anger go, because the only one that truly suffers from it is you.

 


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