I was asked, “When I’m all happy and content, how can someone come along and burst my happy bubble?” Answer: Because mindfulness is a moment by moment choice. They will be just a passing blip on the screen of your life, unless you detain them and flood them with power-giving attention. If someone irks you, that just means you’ve let your focus wander. Get your self talk back under control and your aggravation will soon drop. You’ll notice your pain is caused, not when a troublesome thought surfaces, but by your conscious choice to follow the troublesome thought. By your conscious choice to re-activate your pain by staying on the topic both in your mind and with your friends. Stop being ticked at anyone you think can steal your happiness. They don’t have that much power over you until you give them power by your repeated thoughts and words. They were just a passing blip on the screen of your life, until you detained them by giving them attention.

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