Good morning friends
A few days ago, I had called the personal number of the person in charge of an institution for some important information. I knew this lady, had met her on a number of occasions and had found her to be a very pleasant, cooperative and helpful person. Therefore, I was surprised to hear a gruff voice answering the phone. It sounded as if the person answering the phone was not really interested in answering, sent out the vibrations of ‘why is this person calling me ?’ and was in general, not very inviting. So I asked to speak to the person I knew. I realised with a jolt that the same lady was answering the phone. I then introduced myself and she remembered me and immediately there was a radical change in her tone. She was once again, the pleasant and helpful person that I knew. She helped me with all the information, invited me to visit their institution again and we ended the conversation on a pleasant note. After I kept the phone down, I was wondering about this phenomenon and I realised that I myself am often guilty of a similar behaviour. Having answered many unsolicited calls from people promoting their products at odd hours, many times, I am weary of answering unknown numbers. And when I do answer these phones, I do so curtly. If the person calling is selling some product that I do not want, my tone remains the same. But if it’s a friend or an acquaintance, then immediately my tone is different, more interested and friendly. I am sure this happens with most of us, especially when we are irritable or overworked or anxious or worried about something. We always project our own vibrations when we answer the phone. So, if we are happy and relaxed, we may answer in a cheerful tone; but if we are stressed out due to any reason, our stress is reflected in our tone. As I thought about this incident, I remembered reading a book by Ekhart Tolle. He has talked about the exact phenomena of answering phone calls in this book. And he suggests that before picking up the phone, especially if you are irritable or angry, take a pause, breathe in and out deeply a few times, and then answer the phone. This pause and breathing gives you time to change your vibrations and your tone. As you become more aware, your tone becomes at least neutral, if not a cheerful one. I have tried this practice quite a few times, and it does work wonders. However, I have a tendency to forget about this as time passes by. I am happy that listening to the change in the tone of this person reminded me about the pause before answering a phone call. Now, once again, I will make efforts to take a pause before answering any phone calls, and try to answer them mindfully.
I hope I can incorporate this mindfulness in every action that I take,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawadekar
