This week we were to practice the Loving Kindness exercise again. For me, this went similar to the last one. I was easily able to give myself loving kindness and when it came to loving someone close to me I was able to feel relief that I was able to give love to this person. Like before, I was able to breath in their sorrow and suffering and give back the love. I was able again to do the same for others. When completing the exercise, I felt relief again and felt good because I was able to share my love. They may not know it, but I believe it helps me when I interact with them again too. I seem to feel more compassionate after completing the exercise.
This week we were to complete an integral assessment on the areas we need development. For me, my weakness is my psycho-spiritual development. Most of the time I operate on surviving and many times I am reactive to the chaos in my life. I am not always able to look at things as a service to others or with loving kindness. My daily activities are more like chores that need to be done or just what I need to do because it's expected of me. When things are not going well, I am reactive and most of the time I am unable to react positively. I guess it becomes nature when things are not going well.
To address this area of weakness, I must incorporate the loving kindness exercise in my routine daily and/or the subtle mind exercise. These tend to have calming effects on me and help me to release stress and be more compassionate. By incorporating these into a daily routine I will feel more well. If I feel more well and less stressed then I know my health, in the biological sense, will benefit as well.
To address this same area of weakness, I need to look at my responsibilities as a service to others or how it helps others. I need to remind myself that it is not just work or a chore and that what I need to do is really benefiting and helping others. I need to share more loving kindness and compassion with others, not just because it will help me feel better, but it will make a difference for others as well.
Another area of weakness is my biological health. I know that I do not get out and exercise enough. So, another area of my development is to incorporate an exercise routine here in the near future. One, that I am hoping my husband will join in on as well.
Overall, completing this assessment helped me identify areas of opportunity to make my mind, body, and soul a top priority which supports my overall health and well being. It will be good to be healthier and less stress free. Maybe others will benefit from the positive changes in my life.
I think you are right! Addressing your weaknesses will help those around you; even if it is simply because you are happier and healthier. For instance, the biological changes might incorporate others close to you, like eating healthier foods or exercising together, benefiting your whole family. Good luck on your journey!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think so too. I can't wait to start addressing these weaknesses, but I must say it might be a bit longer than I had hoped. Just so much going on. I am eager and looking forward to it though.
DeleteElicia,
ReplyDeleteYour solutions to the areas that need development would really work for me too. There are countless times I feel as is I am doing my job just because I do not have anything else to do, but if I understand and continue to work knowing I am serving humanity, I believe it will be an area I will develop well. In terms of exercising, I have developed a very consistent exercise routine and I feel and look much better and I want to encourage you to go for it and am sure you will reap the benefits and once you get immersed into it, there will be no turning back. All the best.
David
David,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you think the solutions I mentioned would work for you too. You know today, I had a customer call in where I work and say I spoke to Mary in customer service and she told me to ask for a supervisor. As much as I was thinking how the call would go....I tried to use my loving kindness and view the experience as a service to help others. I used compassion and loving kindness to get myself through the call. Granted, I still have more work to assist her and resolve her issue, I hope she felt like I was on her side and really wanted to help.
It's actually days like these that help me feel better about my job. I feel good when I can help others even when I really don't want the headache and hard work involved. I guess it's my caring about others that has helped me to stay where I have been the last 22 years...working for the same company. Especially, when there have been times I have felt about walking away during what I would refer to as dark times.
It's all about service, compassion, and loving kindness. It's what gets us through the day.
Wow great blog post this week! I am with you on the first exercise, I enjoyed it and got something out of it as I have with a lot of the listening exercises. I guess I need to try the second one again to see if I can get more out of it like others have been stating. I can definitely agree on your daily things being looked at more as chores than helping others. It is really hard when you are going through the hustle and bustle of your busy life to be positive. Being positive can help in so many aspects of your life that it is really important to me to try to be more positive! My weakness is the same as yours so I wish you the best of luck with overcoming that and becoming stronger in that area, I am going to practice at that as well : )
ReplyDelete