What’s moodiness an indication of?
There are no doubt many answers to this question, but I know my moodiness is generally due to one of two things: I am either tired or I am afraid about something. Both reasons are easily addressed I think. Being tired requires getting more rest. The solution is obvious. Being afraid is a bit more complex. But being a student of ACIM offers me an answer. If I am afraid, I have squeezed love out. I have turned my life, for the moment, over to the ego. The important question is “Why?”
I have said many times in many workshops and many books too that we have two voices in our minds. One voice is loud. Speaks first. And is always wrong. Unfortunately it too often gets our attention. It’s the ego. The other voice is far softer. Far kinder. Far more considerate of others, but because it’s harder to hear, we don’t always listen for it. It’s at those times that fear can grab ahold of us. The good news is that knowing about the two voices makes seeking to hear “the right one” far more desirous.
How can we be sure we are listening to the right voice? The questions are obvious. How do we feel inside? Are we calm? Are we easily brought to a smile? Are we eager for the day and our interactions with others? If we can’t respond affirmatively to these questions, the ego has claimed us for the moment. The good news is that we can only live one moment at a time and we can move our minds in to the next moment each time we feel less than eager to greet the folks on our path. That next moment can be whatever we want it to be.
After so many years on this journey I really hate to admit to my moodiness. But it can sneak up on any one of us and I was reminded at a meeting last night that the easiest way out of a bad attitude is a gratitude list. That was one of the first things a sponsor told me when I got sober. “Make a gratitude list,” she said, “and life will soon look up.” That was 1976. She was right then and that suggestion continues to be right. In fact, I’d venture to say it doesn’t make any difference why we feel moody. Make a gratitude list and watch the “movie” we are living change. It’s going to happen. I know. I’ve lived it.
