Repetition, Repetition, Repetition…

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition…

The power of repetition is well known. Just think of politicians and how they use this linguistic device in an attempt to convince us that they mean what they say. But how soon does it begin to sound hollow and contrived?

Audio – Repetition, Repetition, Repetition… (Music by Deuter – Empty Shore)

And isn’t it amazing how those annoying jingles on the TV or radio just seem to get stuck inside our heads, no matter how much we may dislike them. The advertisers certainly know how to get into our minds!

The first time we hear an inspirational quote we’ll be thrilled and surprised and say ‘wow, amazing!’  Yet if someone keeps repeating that same quote, then it no longer remains fun, and we would rather wish the other person would just shut up.

Why is it that we don’t like being told again and again what to do or how to behave?  Yet, on the other hand, we can hear one of our favorite songs over and over again?  If someone praises us, we may ask them to repeat what they said, it feels good! And yet if someone insults us we feel they are putting hot oil in our ears. Does this imply there is preferred and un-preferred repetition?

Isn’t it an irony that we don’t want to keep hearing what feels uncomfortable to us, yet things we choose to hear or have control over are palatable and even enjoyable?  Actually, if repetition frustrates us, even if it’s related to something good and positive, it’s trying to tell us something and we need to look at it closely. If it bugs us, perhaps we are just not listening to or learning the lesson behind it!

The soul is constantly in search of newness and learning. For example, once it has forgotten the ‘above’ inspirational quote and it hears it again in a few months time, it will probably be delighted and yell out the same ‘wow’ statement again.

What about our relationships?  People will annoy us time and again until we learn tolerance power. We can face a child’s repetitive behavior, knowing them to be innocent, but somehow we can’t deal with it in grown-ups.

Sometimes we find ourselves in repeating situations. I may find that I have a difficult time in my workplace, I just don’t get on with the boss. So I change my job and find that, even though the places and the faces are new, the old situation is playing itself out again. Are THEY really the problem? Or is it just that I haven’t yet learned the lesson that is being shown to me? I should know that history will keep repeating itself until I ‘get it’!

What I resist or reject, persists and dejects. Resistance is a negative trait; it is not helpful or empowering for the soul.  Actually once I can learn to accept, appreciate, and learn from what is coming to me, then I can move upwards and onwards with newness at every step of the way. I change my mindset, and I may just find that things around me change magically.

It’s Time… to learn from every situation, so it doesn’t need to make a repeat performance.

by Aruna Ladva and Carol Lipthorpe

Meditation Experience (Music by Deuter – Empty Shore)

© ‘It’s Time…’ by Aruna Ladva, BK Publications London, UK