Unit 6
Universal Loving-kindness Exercise
When I did this exercise this week, I felt the most emotional this time than I have with past exercises. I think a great deal of it has to do with all of the pictures and images I have viewed in the last week concerning the earthquake in Haiti. These same visuals haunted me during the exercise. I felt so much heartbreak and sadness, but I know this is coming from something positive in me: love and compassion. Not that I have not been a loving person, but this course has helped me to see that I need to work on becoming more loving, kind, and caring. I have experienced a natural disaster before with Hurricane Katrina. It was absolutely horrible losing everything that I had worked hard for and those things which I treasured. But I learned that my life was more important than material things; they can be replaced. So, I pretty much sucked it up, was grateful for my life, and moved on. This attitude was necessary to get through the tragedy. But now, it pains me to see the Haitians hurting, suffering, and crying out for help. They are just trying to survive or locate relatives, they are not thinking about the house or the car they no longer have. A very dire situation which hits me hard and a part of me wants to be angry, how could this happen? But there is no tangible bad guy. So I have to channel my energy towards praying for these individuals and doing what I can to help. What I have learned this week is that loving does not always feel good or make you happy; it can bring tears and sadness. I think these are not necessarily negative, they can motivate you towards action. The action for me is praying and sending a donation.
Personal Assessment
I found doing my assessment was slightly difficult because I do not like to point out my flaws. I know they are there and I usually overcompensate in other areas of my life to make up for deficiencies in others. The areas which I would like to work on are psycho-spiritual and interpersonal. I have finally found a church that I enjoy attending, and I am beginning to close up the gap I had with my faith. This is amazing, and I have needed it for a while. Additionally, I am working on strengthening my current friendships and ridding myself of unnecessary ties to individuals who weigh me down. I am also making connections with women from church. They seem devoted to their faith and I think if they and I can bond through faith, this would be incredibly beneficial in helping me with both the psycho-spiritual and interpersonal aspects of my life.
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Hello Aimee,
ReplyDeleteI am a very emotional personal too. I did not watch the news about Haiti, I just took time to pray and send them good karma. I definitely do not understand why those things happen and I am always looking for answers. I am sorry that the same visuals haunted you during the exercise. When we have universal love we will feel heartbreak and sadness, and you definitely have it right because you know it is coming from something positive inside of you. I agree with you about the course helping you to see that you need to work on becoming more loving, kind, and caring; it is helping me become better too. I am glad that because of your disaster, you learned that your life was more important than material things and they can be replaced. That is where the question is answered; “Can we be grateful in hard times?” Yes we can. You did. You were grateful for your life, and you moved on. Your attitude was definitely necessary to get you through the tragedy. It will pain us to see the Haitians hurting, and I feel it is a way of letting us know we are attached universally. It pains me to see the homeless.
According to poet Maria Rilke,….I must learn to be patient with all that is unresolved in my heart and try to love the questions themselves….Do not seek the answers which cannot be given you because you cannot live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer (Dacher, pp.100-102).
Channeling your energy towards praying for the Haitian individuals and doing what you can to help, is what I do also. Yes, when we love others, it can bring tears and sadness because we feel the unity consciousness. Your action of praying and sending a donation is a wonderful opportunity to be effective in unity consciousness.
I am glad you are honest about not liking to point out your flaws. At least you know that they are there. I am glad that you would like to work on your psycho-spiritual and interpersonal aspects and that you are working on strengthening your current friendships and ridding yourself of unnecessary ties to individuals who weigh you down. Connecting with women from church that seems devoted to their faith would help with your psycho-spiritual and interpersonal aspects of my life. I encourage my clients to keep positive people around them. I am a very positive person and I must be in the company of people of faith who believe in the body, mind, and spirit as a whole, and the evolvement of health and wellness. You are on the right path with these classes also for your development. Be blessed.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your post. I am so sorry that you endured such great loss during Hurricane Katrina. Your thoughts about the experience were very inspiring. I wish that more people had your attitude toward life. I am glad that this was a better practice for you, but I am also sad that you had to reflect on such a tragedy. The pictures and the stories are so horrific and sad. I do wish that they could have faster relief. I agree with you, love is not always pleasant, but at least it exists.
Thanks,
Aaron
I am sorry about your experience with Hurricane Katrina, but is great that you are rising above it. It is terrible that so many innocent people have to endure suffering. It is great that you are developing a spiritual relationship. After reading some of the blogs, it seems that majority of us are going to work on our interpersonal relationships. I think it is always room for improvement when dealing with other people. It is about learning how to handle different personality and expectations without losing ourselves.
ReplyDeleteYour strength and courage amaze me. I remember when Hurricane Katrina hit, I was not sure if I had been in that situation if I would have been able to survive. It is your strength that helps to make you so sensative to others tragedies, as the people of Haiti are going through right now.
ReplyDeleteI too found that I needed to work on my interpersonal relationship - I think we could all use some development in that area these days.
I hope that you can continue to be such a caring, loving person as you continue on your eprsonal journey through life.
Sarah