I have to be totally honest (that's a sign of maturity, right?), I could not get through the Love and Kindness activities this week. I have had a very stressful week, and calming my mind and reaching a higher spiritual level right now is very difficult for me. I plan to come back to these exercises when things calm down a little and I have more time.
As far as mental exercise, I believe this is really the practice of the power of intention. We can choose to respond to situations rather than react to them, and this trains the mind to "behave" in a specific way. If I choose to forgive someone and think positive thoughts when they cut me off and give me the finger in traffic, this trains my mind to respond to aggression with kindness. I believe this type of mental training is truly what leads to spiritual growth.
By the way, I'm definitely no master of this. I rarely shoot the finger, but I have no issues using my horn!
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteYour post made me laugh out loud! No problem using the horn, eh? Well, I confess I have done the same thing too (my fingers do not do the talkin). Anyway, I had problems with this exercise too although not because I was too busy to get it to work but because I could not quiet the constant chattering of my moving mind. All I could do is sit and think about all of the things I could be doing instead of trying to reach a higher spiritual level. I already take time out to exercise daily and to take more time out, even just ten minutes is going to take more practice for me. I know contemplative practice is important so I intend to keep trying. I can do it and so can you. I hope things slow down for you soon and you have success with this exercise. Thanks for the laugh! :)
Mike... I love your sense of humor. Yes being honest is being mature because you are being honest with yourself. I can understand that it may be difficult to do these exercise when you have one and a million things going on in your mind. But actually this is the best time to train your mind even if its for 5-10 minutes...to release some of that stress...
ReplyDeleteI am from Brooklyn, NY...and loved using the horn all the time, especially the yellow cab drivers who love to cut you off. But since I moved to Georgia, they actually have a no horn blowing law...go figure! But it became a way for me to start training myself not to blow my horn.
Hope you have a better week...Breath!!!!!