Looking back at the previous exercises, I think that Loving-Kindness and Visualization have been the most beneficial to me. Today was a very example of the benefits of Loving-Kindness for my daily routine: I encountered two people (in separate occasions) who gave me a hard time without a reason. The first one was a coworker, this person's actions were quite annoying, I was about to exploit but I started to breath deeply and my mind just focused on the Loving Kindness meditation and I was able to 'ignore' his actions and feel relaxed. Then the second was a patient (on the phone) who did not think twice on taking off on me what other coworker had done to her. She was very offensive, and once again I was about to go off, when I decided instead to breath deeply and I was able to realize the lady was right in a way even though she was treating me quite unfairly. So, I visualized her in a compassionate way and I offered her a solution to her problem and at the end of the conversation, she was even nice to me.
I think I save myself a lot of energy that way; had I fallen into the "explosion" game, I bet I would had wasted my energy and would had felt exhausted at the end of the day at work.
By changing my negative feelings for positive ones, as the Buddhist teachings say; I was able to turn a negative day into a more positive and productive one.
Wow, good for you! I definitely could learn a thing or two from your story. I enjoy the loving kindness exercise, I just find it very difficult to concentrate on. Then again, I have yet to use it in every day situations. How did you feel directly after? Were you still annoyed or did you have a sense of calm? I feel as if when I try to find peace when I am stressed, my actions are under control, but I am screaming on the inside and still annoyed. I guess it means I need to work just a little harder.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!