Karaj has explained that the annoyance which people trigger in me is my annoyance. If I am irritated and something about somebody else has triggered it off, that is wonderful because then I can address my irritation and get to the bottom of something which could be very important. I could then release it and move on. There doesn’t necessarily have to be any correlation between the trigger and the irritation. Once it has been triggered I can concentrate on the annoyance and work it out. How I do that, however, is beyond me at the moment. [Karaj: How?!]
A good example of this is my disillusionment with the world. I wish the world were different. I wish the people on this planet were more honest with each other, kinder to each other and more loving. Karaj tells me if I’m down I must find what it is I need to lift myself again. On reflection it seems that my life would be so much better if I weren’t so emotional. This means working my way out of the Child ego state and into the Parent. But that’s what I’m doing and it’s a long-term project. What can I give myself in the short term to lift myself?
Either I harden up or the world softens up. I put this to Karaj and he advised me to substitute my Controlling Parent (CP) for the world. This means I will rebel against my CP (just as I tend to rebel against the world) if my CP does not go easy on me. In short I have to be easier on myself. Give myself a break. Be kinder to myself.