Do you remember the old cowboy western movies? Those fast gun slingers and the great John Wayne portraying the wildness of the wild wild west. The cowboy corral showdowns, with Billy the Kid being the fastest in the west. It was a marvel seeing the gun come out of the holster and the firing of the weapon so fast that all you could see was a small puff of smoke from the barrel of the gun, a distant echo of the firing and then one of the contenders fall dead. You were better the faster you could engage the trigger. So true is this with the nature of our own reactions.

We are quick to judge others without the understanding of circumstances. We are quick to reply back without thinking of an appropriate response. We are quick to act without realizing the consequences of our actions. We are so quick to draw  and pull the trigger first, that sometimes we see the fate of these actions too late, such as when the opponent has fallen. These can be quick responses in anger, in spite, in love, or any emotional state that is too extreme.  If we are not cognizant of our mind  and its dealings then we unfortunately use our emotions as the trigger and aim at who ever is in our sights. The victims may be a little lonely child who is seeking your attention for company but your impatience fires them a scolding. A co worker having a tough time with a task coming to you for advice, but your jealousy belittles them. A friend in need asking for help but your arrogance shames them. A family member seeking love  but your fear shuns them away. A potential job opportunity comes to your door knocking, but your short sightedness severs the connection.

In these examples what has happened is that you have not used your rational part of yourself to make an informed decision but instead you have resorted to “trigger happy reactions” that will lead to the crumbling of any connection that you could possibly have between yourself and the world around you. These reactions tend to usually disconnect yourself from yourself, which leads to further distancing of yourself with the universe. Then one day you turn around and realize that all your gun slinging has left you alone. You have no one left because everyone and everything  has fled from you either in fear or you have killed everything and everyone around you. This is like the “ghost towns” from the Wild wild west, generally not a nice place to be.

However all is not lost. Your mind like your gun can be trained. Faster reactions is not better, quicker triggers is not efficient, and sharper bullets  is not more productive.  Mindfulness and patience aids in the understanding and the chance to bring about the right reaction and the appropriate change to circumstances. Being aware allows you to see things from a different perspective, such as that from the view point of the child, the co worker, the friend, the family member and the infinite options waiting for you to pick. Reacting all the time weakens your trigger finger too, leading to finger fatigue, or decision fatigue. When “you” are not involved in making the conscious choices you are the one who suffers in the end game. Your trigger happy reactions change your personality into one of anger, irritability, negativity, and selfishness. I doubt that is how you wish to be remembered when your life is played up in the proverbial movies.

So holster your weapon of the mind, and watch yourself before you unleash it and send bullets of insults, or bad decisions flying in different directions. The gun like the mind is a tool, and in the right hands is either a deterrent or a force of destruction.  Be stead fast in your resolve to do good, and let your energies flow like water. Let your hate float away into the wind, and you enjoy peaceful trigger free days.

in the words of my favorite movie lines ” Do you feel lucky today? Well do you?”