There are no two people I love in the world more than I love my girls. Clearly, I thought of them when I was setting the loving kindness bar. It is hard to imagine loving anyone as much as these two, but during the exercise I tried to project that into the universe.
When you are a mom you are always trying to ease your child's pain. That is what I imagined myself dong when I was having negative thoughts. I was telling myself "it is okay to love yourself" and trying to be tender and nurturing. It was difficult at times, but I can definitely see the benefit of this exercise. You need to remove all those negative emotions and replace them with loving kindness if you wish to go down the path of human flourishing. I think this exercise in beneficial because it allows you to push aside the damaging, negative emotions and lets you bring the loving, positive emotions out.
A mental workout is just as it sounds. You are working your mind. You are making it stronger, faster, wiser and more efficient. You are training your mind to think a certain way. In the topic of human flourishing you are training your mind to get rid of negative and destructive thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts of loving kindness. Exercises like this, performed regularly, build your mind to reach new heights you never imagined. Just like losing fat and gaining muscle doesn't happen over night, training the mind is a process that needs time, energy and commitment, but in the end it is worth it.
How do I know its worth it, especially since I am not there? I have faith in it.
~It doesn't get easier, you get stronger.
Brandy
Brandy, you seem to have grasped the concept of the loving-kindness exercise quite well. Do you find it difficult to also project that love to complete strangers or even enemies?
ReplyDeleteYou're right on about mental workout as well. I guess I should have never thought it would be easy, but it is certainly exercise. I actually find it much more challenging than physical exercise. Well it was a great post. Best wishes and be well!
Danny
Hi Brandy,
ReplyDeleteFrom one mom to another, I know exactly how you feel. I love my son more than anything in this world and when he is hurt I am hurt. Everyone needs love and kindness in their heart and some people find it difficult to do that. I think it is easier for a mom to show theses emotions to their children and family. But if the person is angry at the world and bitter, these emotions are very hard to show or even feel towards another person. You are right that this exercise would be beneficial because it would allow us to push aside the damaging, negative emotions and let you bring love, positive emotions to others.
Nicki
Danny,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response. I certainly find it difficult to project love and kindness towards enemies or people whose values differ from mine. I think that I have pretty much forgiven all my enemies and people who have done me wrong in the past. I try to hold compassion towards others, but it is sometimes very difficult. What do you think is the most challenging part if that aspect?
I agree with you that mental workout are more difficult that physical exercise. Physical exercise requires a lot of mental grit. As the texts states, we can take the mind far beyond where the body can go. I love to watch "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition". Last week they had a guy on there, Jarvez, he lost an astonishing 281 lbs in a year. That is not what inspired me the most. His attitude is what made him successful. The first day of his boot camp his trainer asked him to do 50 pushups at 548 lbs. It was extremely difficult, but he did not quit. As he lay there, panting, thinking about his options he found the inner strength, took off his glasses and pounded out all 50 pushups. His mental attitude and inner strength was moving and what I aspire to.
Hi Brandy
ReplyDeleteGreat blog this week! Although, Ican only image the love that is poured out froma parent and now as an adult I see that my mom still pours out her love for her children and I can appreciate that. You made a good point by saying removing all the negatives is where you gain a positive and this is true people who are negative bring it upon themselves, and those who are positive bring postives into their lives. You have to continue to push yourself, since no one else can do that for you.