Harmony at Work

Today we know that mercury, that liquid metal, is dangerous to our health. But this was not always well-known. A whole generation grew up using mercury thermometers, and many children delighted in breaking open those glass tubes and playing with the silver ball inside. And why not? What happens to you if you play with mercury for too long?

My high school physics teacher, Al, answered this question. In the 1960’s Al had worked in an industrial laboratory. Many of his chemical applications required mercury, and he worked with it regularly for months. Although he was careful not to touch the metal directly, his lab room was not well-ventilated, and the mercury fumes began to affect him over time.

This became clear one day when Al’s supervisor stopped by and asked him to redo a chemical procedure. Al whirled around, grabbed the man by the throat, and began to choke him. It took three lab technicians to pull Al’s arms away.

During Al’s suspension and subsequent medical examination, the doctors diagnosed him as suffering from mercury poisoning, also known as mercury madness. He was treated for a few months, and he slowly recovered. Meanwhile, his lab installed larger fume hoods and a new ventilation system.

Negative emotions are much the same way. Just like the unventilated mercury was slowly poisoning poor Al, so too can our pent-up frustrations and hurts act on us.

There are many ways to “vent” these emotions—although some ways are more effective than others. People can try literally to vent their anger, for example, by shouting at an antagonist, or even an innocent bystander or family member. This is akin to blowing mercury fumes out an open window. Sure, they leave the room for now. But they are poisoning someone else outside. And, with a change of the wind, they will blow right back in.

A more effective method is introspection. Spend some time at the end of each day, or on the weekend, reflecting on any frustrations or emotional discomfort you may feel. Writing in a journal can be a great aid in this. After you’ve identified how you’re feeling, look for causes. See if you can view a cause or situation from a different angle, in a more positive way. Perhaps you can separate your reaction to the situation from the situation itself. As Yogananda said, “Circumstances are always neutral. It is by our reactions to them that we think of them as good or bad.”

Perhaps most effective of all, try first to accept the situation. Solutions are best found by first calmly accepting what is, and then putting out energy and will power to bring about a positive change.

In this way you can get rid of not only the mercury fumes, but the mercury itself!

            What are these?

Tags: anger, frustration, introspection, negative emotions, stress

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 8:19 am and is filed under techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.