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A spiritual practice that is very helpful for me is simply being curious. Specifically being curious instead of judging the situation or judging yourself. For instance, let’s say that you lose it. You get frustrated that the computer crashes or someone pulls out in front of you when driving or your spouse/friend says something hurtful—most often, we react. And most times we feel bad that we lost our cool. Instead of judging, stay curious. “I wonder why I got so upset?” “What triggered me?” “Why did I feel so self-righteous/angry/ resentful?” Take a breath and be curious about your reaction.  “Oh, I felt slighted.” “I felt like I wasn’t in control.” “I felt stupid and I don’t like feeling stupid.”  Being curious makes me more aware of how I react. And that awareness can slowly change our response so that we can be more loving and understanding to others and ourselves. Be curious.

Pastor Marcia Wakeland is a retired ELCA pastor, a spiritual director and a listening advocate. She is interested in the actual experience of having faith and how that is lived out. She can be reached at mwakeland@gmail.com for comments or more questions Her ongoing blog of living out spiritual practices is listeninglife.live.