pratipaksha-bhavana

Take a moment to think about the last time you were cut off by a car while driving. What was your reaction? Most likely, your first instinctual response was anger and frustration. Unfortunately, creating a negative dialogue to go along with a situation comes more naturally for most people. But, what if you could take a pause before reacting to consider the possible reasons for why the driver cut you off. Was he rushing to take his wife to the hospital to deliver their first child? Was she a new 16- year-old driver learning the ropes of the road? Was he in a hurry to his second job? The list of possibilities is endless. The old, familiar saying comes into play here, “Imagine yourself walking a day in someone else’s shoes’. It is impossible for us to know why people react the way they do so immediately assuming the worst…