Today I was feeling really upset because of something that happened at school during sports hour. I didn’t even realize how distressed I was at first. Here’s what happened:

We were playing basketball and one of my teammates kept accusing me of fouling him, even though I had only touched him while stealing the ball, which is allowed. He kept stopping the game and complaining to the teacher that my team was making mistakes, even though the teacher said I hadn’t actually fouled him. He was so focused on winning that he stopped caring about enjoying the game.

After about 15 minutes of this, I quit playing because I was so frustrated. I talked to my dad Adrian about it after school, and he could see how upset I still was. He asked me why I thought the other kid was acting that way, and I said because he just wanted to win. Dad explained that when people get overly focused on a goal, they lose sight of what really matters, like enjoying the game.

Even after we got ice cream, I was still bothered by what happened. So Dad suggested using the Heart Open Power steps to explore my feelings. I agreed, and he asked how I felt thinking about the situation. I said I felt tension, anger, and bad. He asked what thoughts I was having, and I said things like “He shouldn’t have done that!” and “What’s wrong with him?” Dad pointed out that those thoughts made sense for the feelings I was having.

Dad then asked if anything else around me during the game had felt wrong or bad. I realized everything else was fine - it was just what was happening in my own heart that was the problem. I could see I wasn’t in harmony with the world in that moment. Dad asked what was really valuable to me, and I said having fun and playing with my friends.

He then asked if I could gift the other kid the freedom to be who he is, while also noticing what's valuable to me. I said I could do that. After a few seconds, I felt so much more at peace - my headache even went away! I realized I have the power to allow others to be who they are. Before, I would have wanted to kick that kid out of the game, but now I saw I could choose a different response.

Dad said that when I'm in harmony, my system will suggest better ways of handling situations. I felt so much joy and gratitude in that moment. I gave Dad a big hug to thank him for helping me shift to a better way of seeing the world.

The most important thing is maintaining my own harmony - that will lead to peaceful, caring solutions rather than judgment, blame or rejection. I'm so lucky to have learned this way of living from my dad and others. Now I want to share it with everyone I can, because the joy and peace it brings is the greatest gift.