Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about uprooting negativity. So it's not what we look at, but how we see it. It's not what happens, but what we perceive. We may be impacted by events in the world around us, but ultimately it's our thoughts that often define our experience.

Let's say you wake up one day and you see that it's raining outside your window and then a thought pops into your head that says, Ugh, what a dreadful day. Now is the day actually dreadful? Or is that just a judgment? Of course the day's not dreadful. It's simply raining, but if you believe that thought, guess what you'll have? Right. You'll have a dreadful day. In other words, a thought like that can generate a lot of negativity.

I mean, for instance, you could often easily have the different interpretation of the rain, right? Like, Oh, hooray. This is an abundance of rain watering our food and our trees. How lucky is that? And so will a thought like that make you feel completely differently to the first one. You bet it will. The former breeds negativity, this thought breeds gratitude and joy.

So what's the basic mechanics of the thoughts that breed negativity? Well, basically they are thoughts of resistance to what is. Resistance basically says I don't want what is, I don't like what is, what is, is not good enough or it shouldn't be happening. So for instance, underneath that thought, Oh, what a dreadful day, is a basic sentiment of, I don't like this rain. I don't want it. It shouldn't be happening.

So if you want to feel negativity, you just think thoughts that dislike, resent or see deficiency in what is. Now you can do this with your body. Just look in the mirror and think yuck. I don't like this. It's not good enough.

And you'll feel immediate negative emotions. You can do this with your partner. Just look at your partner and think this person sucks. I don't like this about them. I don't like that about them.

And you'll start to immediately feel resentment and negativity. You can do this with anything. You can do it with the weather, the food on your plate, your finances, your work, other people. But the more we can remind ourselves that it's not what's happening to us or around us that defines our experience, it's how we relate to it, the more we can create space for calm, clarity, joy, and wisdom within ourselves. And the more we're empowered to take skillful action to change things if it's required, because of course you don't have to be negative to create change.

You take more skillful action when it comes from a place of presence and non-resistance. So today's invitation is to see if you can uproot negativity in your life. Just even if it's just a little bit. So if you notice the mind getting caught up in resistance and resentment, see if you can change your perception to gratitude and acceptance. Accept first and then act if required, but doing so from a place of presence and inner peace.

I wish you a wonderful practice with this today. And as always, thank you for doing this work in the world and within yourself. And just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.