I grew up in a Buddhist household, where I was taught that meditation could help bring focus to my life. In college I studied the effects of mindfulness (awareness practice), which is a large aspect of meditation. I found that the benefits were not only applicable to our daily lives, but weren't merely something skeptics could write off as "pseudo-science".
Through my studies I came across a free application called "Transform Your Life: A Year of Awareness Practice" by Cheri Huber. This app contains various quotes that ask us to question reality and reflect on our own experiences. There's one quote every day, each with an "assignment" that helps us practice being mindful as we go about our daily routines. All it takes is a minute a day to check our app, read the quote, and think about it as we're doing our thing in the real world. Simple, yet also quite difficult as it's very easy to become distracted by the things around us.
In using this app I found it to be a useful reminder to not be so serious about everything. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not despised. It's helped ground me in the present a bit more, so I'd like to present you each quote as well as share my thoughts/personal experiences regarding each quote.
Without further ado, let's embark on a year of mindfulness.
I remember having lunch with my friend in our dorm's dining hall and chatting with his friends. I remember one of them being really indifferent and being (I thought) rude for "no reason". I remember thinking, "wow, what an asshole" and I let it get to me. I knew almost nothing about this person and yet I just assumed, based on that single interaction, that maybe they weren't a nice person. I knew nothing and just came to that conclusion because I got butt-hurt over it. Petty, right?
For all I knew, maybe they just went through a horrible experience earlier that day and they just weren't in the mood to socialize. I didn't know and at the time I didn't try to understand them. It's none of my business, but had I thought about what struggles they might have been going through I probably wouldn't have gotten so worked up over something so little. When I feel like shit I'm certainly not all sunshine and rainbows, so it's only natural that others can get like that, too. We all have crap we're dealing with.
Perhaps they just ended a relationship and are frustrated that things didn't work out. It's no excuse for them to take their anger out on others, but considering it can help us understand what's going on a little more. Or maybe there's a lot going on in their life we don't know and they feel lost. In these times it's really easy to lose our cool and all it could take to make things better is someone to lend a shoulder and ear for comfort. How we react to others is also a reflection of ourselves. Upon reflection, I was being very immature and selfish (I still am in many ways) and that's why I let the negativity of someone else get under my skin. I was really stressed out during that time and I think I was just looking for things to take my frustrations out on. One small change in assumptions can change your perspective of a situation and one small act of kindness can make a huge difference.
By realizing that everyone has their own struggles they're going through, it makes us more aware of and sensitive to others' emotions. It makes us empathize with others, which naturally leads us to developing better communication skills. This helps us create closer and more intimate relationships. It makes us more compassionate.
Peace
Through my studies I came across a free application called "Transform Your Life: A Year of Awareness Practice" by Cheri Huber. This app contains various quotes that ask us to question reality and reflect on our own experiences. There's one quote every day, each with an "assignment" that helps us practice being mindful as we go about our daily routines. All it takes is a minute a day to check our app, read the quote, and think about it as we're doing our thing in the real world. Simple, yet also quite difficult as it's very easy to become distracted by the things around us.
In using this app I found it to be a useful reminder to not be so serious about everything. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not despised. It's helped ground me in the present a bit more, so I'd like to present you each quote as well as share my thoughts/personal experiences regarding each quote.
Without further ado, let's embark on a year of mindfulness.
"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - John WatsonNobody lives a perfect life. We all have shit we're going through. Whether it's being super busy, dealing with haters, relationship troubles, not knowing how you're gonna pay your rent this month, etc. I think we sometimes forget this and focus too much on our own problems. What this can do is lead to a lot of misunderstandings and make us bitter toward others when they're not acting favorably to us.
I remember having lunch with my friend in our dorm's dining hall and chatting with his friends. I remember one of them being really indifferent and being (I thought) rude for "no reason". I remember thinking, "wow, what an asshole" and I let it get to me. I knew almost nothing about this person and yet I just assumed, based on that single interaction, that maybe they weren't a nice person. I knew nothing and just came to that conclusion because I got butt-hurt over it. Petty, right?
For all I knew, maybe they just went through a horrible experience earlier that day and they just weren't in the mood to socialize. I didn't know and at the time I didn't try to understand them. It's none of my business, but had I thought about what struggles they might have been going through I probably wouldn't have gotten so worked up over something so little. When I feel like shit I'm certainly not all sunshine and rainbows, so it's only natural that others can get like that, too. We all have crap we're dealing with.
Perhaps they just ended a relationship and are frustrated that things didn't work out. It's no excuse for them to take their anger out on others, but considering it can help us understand what's going on a little more. Or maybe there's a lot going on in their life we don't know and they feel lost. In these times it's really easy to lose our cool and all it could take to make things better is someone to lend a shoulder and ear for comfort. How we react to others is also a reflection of ourselves. Upon reflection, I was being very immature and selfish (I still am in many ways) and that's why I let the negativity of someone else get under my skin. I was really stressed out during that time and I think I was just looking for things to take my frustrations out on. One small change in assumptions can change your perspective of a situation and one small act of kindness can make a huge difference.
By realizing that everyone has their own struggles they're going through, it makes us more aware of and sensitive to others' emotions. It makes us empathize with others, which naturally leads us to developing better communication skills. This helps us create closer and more intimate relationships. It makes us more compassionate.
Peace
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| Our problems may differ, but struggle is still struggle. Pain is still pain |
Today's assignment: See if you can recognize the "battle" being fought by everyone you meet today. Try observing the messages being sent by their eyes and body-language.
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