You Can't Give Away What You Don't Have

I will never look at oranges in the same way, after this analogy I read this morning by the late Dr. Wayne Dyer... had to share!??

Okay, imagine squeezing an orange.

When you squeeze an orange, what will always come out?

Orange juice, of course. This is true REGARDLESS of who squeezes the orange, what time of day the orange is squeezed, how it is squeezed, and what external circumstances surround the squeezing-of-said-orange. What comes out is always what exists inside.

??This same logic applies to YOU!??

"When someone squeezes you, in some way puts pressure on you, or says something unflattering or critical; and out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, tension, depression or anxiety... it's because that's what's inside." -Dr. Dyer

You can't give away what you don't have, because you are always giving away what you do have.

If you are generating more peace, compassion, and gratitude within yourself and for yourself... when something external happens "to" you, you won't react in anger. You will see things through a compassionate lens, and have the capacity to give that compassion back.

If someone cuts you off in traffic, you won't react in anger, honking your horn and flipping them off... You may instead have the thought, "That person must be in a hurry, I hope they are okay and I wish them well."

If someone says something rude to you at work... You won't respond in anger, thinking, "What an a-hole!! How DARE they say that to me and ruin MY day!"... You will be unphased and may instead think, "They must be having a hard day. I hope everything is okay at home..." and send them loving, kind wishes instead.

Not only is this EXTREMELY liberating for you, but there is a ripple effect that goes beyond what you can even see.

The ripple effect goes both ways. Responding to a "squeeze" with anger and hate, creates a ripple effect around you, of more of that energy.

Responding to a "squeeze" with love and compassion, will create a ripple effect around you of more of that energy.

It takes time and practice to cultivate this inner higher state of being, but once you do it, nothing external can phase you.

If you have love and compassion inside... No matter how you get squeezed/pressured, you'll only have the capacity to return love and compassion.

You can only give away what you have.

Does this resonate? Let me know in the comments if you have any practices to help generate inner peace for yourself on a daily basis!