One day I confided in someone I had great respect for, over a mental dilemma that was causing me great stress. I expected my friend to be very simpatico, but instead, he waved away my “problem” like it was an inconvenient nuisance and then said… “Why are you making something small into something big? Why don’t you instead make this big thing inside your head into something small?” Then he raised his eyebrows at me…
And he was right. The best way to deal with problems that cause mental stress is to mentally “make something big into something small”. This way, nothing can cause us grief, and in time, it becomes a habit, a life skill that makes life more pleasant. When you reduce a mountain into a molehill, the problem does not go away, but you can cope with it. Then nothing can distract or immobilize you. You need never get stressed when you encounter bad situations, experience failures, get gossiped about, endure backbiting, politicking or betrayal from others. Even when you discover that your spouse has been unfaithful to you, you can use your mind to let the problem get minimized and then disappear into oblivion.
Problem situations as well as people who cause you grief can be kept from from ballooning into hot air inside your mind, causing headaches and distress. It is not easy to do this, to make a big problem seem small! In fact, it is a very difficult exercise, because the mind is usually much better at making something small into something big than the other way around.
If you find it difficult to shrink bad people and bad situations in your life into nothingness, if you are find it hard to visualize them getting vapourized into thin air, if the “problems” in your life continue to get bigger for you, here are 7 FENG SHUI WAYS you can try to get them out of your way altogether. So you do not just reduce them in size and magnitude, you actually get them out of your life forever. These methods have worked for many people that I’ve passed them on to.
1MAKE A PAPER BOAT with your problems written onto it, making sure you include everything that aggravates you about the situation. You can also include a wish that describes how you want the situation to be, or that will cause your problems to go away. Be as detailed as you want, and if all you want is for the problem to go away and you will leave it to the cosmic forces to come up with a perfect solution for you, then write it down exactly like this. Take the paper boat with you to the nearest river or big drain, and let it the waters carry your little boat with all your problems written on it into a bigger drain or a river or even into the sea. Do not look back after you have released the boat onto the water… you must mentally say goodbye to your problem! Let the winds and waters dissolve your problem for you. This is a very effective way to get a big problem out of your life. I gave this tip to a young lady and she did exactly as I told her to. She released her paper boat into the KL river along Klang Road… for her, the problem had been a very difficult boss, and within three weeks, her boss was transferred to another division. She could not believe how quickly the method worked. She has now become really good at making paper boats for her friends and colleagues!
2MAKE A BONFIRE of all your aggravations. Write down all the things causing you distress. Be careful how you word them, because what you are going to do is make a small charcoal fire and then firmly burn everything you have written down. The act of letting the fire consume your problems is a traditional method known to almost all the traditions of the world, and as paper burns so easily, it is mentally a great act of release when you watch the fire consume everything you have written down. If you like, you can also use black sesame seeds to represent your problems and then throw them into the fire.
If it is a particular someone who is causing you grief, then just write that person’s name on a piece of paper and wish that person out of your life. Never write down bad intentions, as this can be quite dangerous. Just wish for your problems to disappear from your life. Offer them to the fire and watch as they transform from words on a piece of paper into pure ash! Then scatter the ash onto the road outside your home and send whatever residual energy that may have been left over on its way. This little ritual can be a truly liberating experience.
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TIE YOUR PROBLEMS ONTO A TREE and let the rain and sun wash the ink off the piece of paper! This will cause whatever is disturbing you to get washed away by the powerful elements of the cosmic Universe.
4RELEASE YOUR PROBLEMS FROM A HIGH PLACE Another way to deal with mental afflictions brought your way by negative people is to go to the top of a high building and release your problems written onto helium balloons. For this ritual, it is better to phrase your problems as wishes. Rewrite them, restate your situation and use this to put a new slant to whatever is causing you to stress out. Here you are not burning them or throwing them into the drain or river, so write the reality you want, rather than write them as problems. Once you have rewritten your situation, you can make a fervent wish in your heart before releasing your helium-filled balloon to the skies; then watch as your balloon flies up into the skies and into the cosmos. Let the Universe work its magic for you.
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TRANSFORM YOUR PROBLEMS INTO FLOWERS You can also use the element of Earth to dissolve your problems. Write down the situation that is disturbing you… then dig a hole in the ground in your garden about a foot deep. Next, tear up the piece of paper into small pieces before burying the pieces in the ground with about two inches of soil. Then plant a small flowering plant on top of your problems. When the plant grows strong and yields flowers for you, you know that your problems have transformed into a beautiful opportunity. Transforming your problems into flowers also allows you to let go of them… In any case, just making the effort to write out your anger, frustration or distress will help get these negative feelings out of your system. Always write down how you would like the situation resolved.
6REDUCE A TROUBLESOME PERSON in size and visualize this person about three inches high on your open palms, then blow the person away to Timbuktu or Siberia or to the Gobi desert, right out of your life completely. This can be someone competing for your husband’s affections (a troublesome predatory female or mistress); someone who plays dirty politics with you at work; someone who is actively bad-mouthing you or someone who may be bullying you at school. This method is symbolic; so this ritual does not harm the person, it only gets him/her out of your life.
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MAKE THEM INTO BIRDS to fly away from you. This ritual is especially powerful if you feel that your problems are a result of some mistake you made, or some wrong judgement call, or because you trusted someone you should not have. No problem! Just transform your regrets and mistakes into tiny birds. Draw these birds as part of a painting and show them flying into the skies. The birds will take all your mistakes into the skies with them. This ritual engages the element of Air, which has the power to completely dissolve them into nothingness. In the great expanse of the vast skies, your problems will become a speck in the wind!
