Hiking the High Road

Whether in work relationships, family ties or in my marriage life, every day in my adult life there has been ample opportunity to take the high road. And while most of the time I know exactly where that path is carved, because of my own emotions in a heated moment I have often failed to choose it.

While I love to believe that I would and will always choose to transcend petty and non-constructive arguments – when the flaming arrows are directly flying at me and are inflammatory and personal, often my ego compels me to retaliate. Sometimes it is necessary to rise up, especially when there is no factual basis in someone’s accusations. But as I have often observed, there is a high road reflective response or a low road reactive retaliation.

Because like you, I am an emotional feeling human being and not a heartless robot, the choice to respond with careful consideration requires a lot of awareness. How is my tone? What is my demeanor and body language projecting? Am I calm and collected in my thoughts or chaotic and unstable?
And then there is the deeper more potentially exposing question – does anything this person is saying have merit? Over the years I have observed to be able to see and admit that there is a nugget of truth can be the first step to exponential personal growth.

When under personal verbal attack, the times I have chosen the high road have always been a direct result of meditation. Because of my daily practice of centering, connecting to calm in my thoughts and focusing on awareness of my whole person – I have experienced a significant change in my ability to rise above confrontational situations and transcend the urgings of my ego.

In these moments, there is true listening with curiosity, a deep desire to understand and a place of peaceful clarity in my own head space. This is the atmosphere in the highest peak of the high road – perfectly blue skies without any threat of dark clouds. Perhaps an even better analogy is the eye of the storm. While accusations and negativity are swirling around me threatening to pull me into a vortex of anxiety, anger and resentment – my mind is resting in the eye of objectivity. And when my thoughts are calm, my emotions follow.

I have also come to realize taking the high road requires internal fortitude. It is not a flat, straight surface once you find it – it is a steep uphill climb with plenty of slippery slopes along the way. In fact, the more vulnerable and open I allow myself to be, the more those who only take the low road will strive to pull me back down into their stone-throwing rock pile which they have carefully crafted over time.

Gravity in the low road is strong and powerful. But choosing to rise above and remove myself from my natural, ego-driven inclinations is ultimately the path to freedom – freedom from anger, anxiety, apprehension and all things abrasive to my soul.

I believe the map to the high road begins with awareness which leads to the trail of curiosity; a path if chosen will guide you to the highest peak where you can see the entire landscape with calm, clarity and compassion for yourself as well as others.

This is my quest, to continue this journey onward and upward with a heart full of love and a mind of gratitude. Today I will endeavor to not be deterred from the beauty of the high road which I believe always leads to living my best life.

The above is written by a guest blogger. The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not reflect the opinions of Bob Lacey, Sheri Lynch or the Bob & Sheri show.

The Zen Den

Hello and welcome to The Zen Den. My name is Alison and while I am passionate about many things, my most inspiring driving force is human connection. Blogger, content writer, orthopedic exercise specialist, motivational speaker, international yoga pro, published songwriter, avid poker player, mom and wife are just a few of my titles. But when I do my job at NASA, I am known simply as “The Fairy Zenmother” a role I deeply love because people invite me into their space to help them find their center, relax and stretch their muscles and destress their mind. Here in the blogosphere version of The Zen Den, I invite you into my world where I will explore ideas for creating a better tomorrow and a kinder today. And hopefully, with insight, authenticity and humor; my words, observations and experiences will help you feel calm, centered, intellectually challenged and spiritually enlightened. Alternatively, if you have something you would like to see covered in The Zen Den, just let me know. Your feedback is welcome and valuable to the success of this blog. Finally, my heart is filled with gratitude to have this opportunity to share with all of you.