May all individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness.
May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.
May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.
I really enjoyed this week’s Loving Kindness exercise. At first I was like “wow really how is this going to help me” but after reading through it a couple of times I actually felt pretty good. The thought of first helping myself gain freedom from all of my suffering and then finding health, happiness, and wholeness I think is incredibly important. You can only help others if you first help yourself. After you have gained peace within yourself you can begin helping others. I love the idea of helping others find health and happiness. I try and do this with my family now and it is very rewarding. Now I need to think outside the box and get out of my comfort zone and begin to help people that I don’t know as well.
While reading over the integral health assessment I could help thinking that I was lacking in several areas. My biological being is ok I guess. I eat fairly healthy, exercise from time to time, but I never take the time to really focus on my body as a whole. The interpersonal aspect has always been an issue for me. I tend to shy away from human interaction on a personal level because I am shy and pretty introverted. I may seem friendly and outgoing on the outside (after all I do work in customer service) but on the inside I am still a scared little girl afraid of rejection. I love my close family which makes up my husband, father, aunt, and cousin but other than that I have no close relationships. I don’t take the time to develop relationships into something more meaningful. This is something I really need to work on. I love people but they seem to make me a little uncomfortable unless in a work related setting. My worldly aspect is definitely not a top priority for me right now because I have so much on my plate within the here and now. This is something that will develop when I begin my career as an epidemiologist because I will need to concern myself with what is happening in the realm of diseases around the world. Psychospiritual is another area that I do not take enough time on. I never seem to find the spare time to take a minute and concentrate on what is going on internally. I would love to practice yoga but unfortunately I rarely have the time to squeeze it in. I am trying to find a way to rearrange my schedule a bit so I can take a little “me time”. This is something that will take some getting used to because nurturing my spirit had never seemed like a priority until I began learning how important it is for overall health and wellbeing.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI can't help but to feel the same with things lately as you are feeling. It is hard to find time have me time. I always say life throws us curve balls to see if we can deal with them, but sometimes the more the challenge the harder it is. I too am shy at points in my life, the weird thing about me is I am friendly to strangers but with my loved ones, I am sometimes timid. I think it is because their opinion matters the most to me. The two aspects that you need to work and grow are the same that I need to. We just need to take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second. But it easier said than done.
With Love, Bridget
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteYou are right to say that loving others comes with loving and nurturing yourself first. When you can truly say. "I LOVE MYSELF" the timid self you once knew will melt away. It's a fact that you will gain a confidence and a light that cannot be look away from. Keep working and it will happen for you. It is so common to feel that you don't have enough time in a day for yourself...I hope you feel that you deserve it. When you spend your day making sure that others are happy, don't you think you deserve some for yourself? I do! Start with short periods of time if that helps then work up to as much time that you need to keep yourself well!
Best,
Stevi Gelinas
Jennifer -
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to your post. I am so glad to read another post as open and honest as yours and willing to face the aspects of your life that need improvement. Reading your post helped me put some of my issues into black and white for this weeks assignment. Thanks for the insight, I really enjoyed reading about you. Take care!
Jennifer, I enjoyed your blog this week. I had kind of the same reaction to this exercise at first, I didn't think it would do much help. I really enjoyed this and it makes me realize how much I really want to accomplish with being a nurse. My interpersonal flourishing is surprisingly one of my strongest areas. However, my biological flourishing is the area that needs the most improvement!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteBalancing all these important areas of our lives is something we will have to keep working on our whole life. I love the way Dacher keeps stressing in his book that our lives are constantly changing and we go through different seasons, so we have to keep assessing which area need attention. Right now you are feeling led to pursue the psychospiritual aspects of your life as well as the interpersonal. I encourage you to look for opportunities to practice loving kindness towards those who come across your path. We don't realize how many people are just barely getting through each day with no bright moments or positive interactions. You have grown to the place where you can now be that bright spot for someone during your day. I am trying to be more attentive to this in my own life, and stop thinking about my life all the time and keep my eyes open for ways I can be a blessing to others. It doesn't have to be much- maybe just a smile, a hello or chatting for a minute with an elderly person you bump into. If we all made a commitment to touch one other person in a loving way each day, think how different our world would be! :)
Hi Jennifer, I really enjoyed reading your post this week and I can tell that you and your family are all really benefiting from this class and the exercises we are performing. The statement that we can only help others if we help ourselves is so true. I have met many people in this world that devote one hundred percent of their time taking care of others that they have no time or forget about helping themself. I think it's awesome that people love to help others, however if you forget about your own health and aren't around long to help anybody, then what good was all of your hard work? I myself often spend a lot of time putting people ahead of myself. I guess some people are just born to be givers and not receivers. I see nothing wrong with that, however your own health and wellness should be number one on your priority list. If you take care of yourself first and your health and wellnes is completely fine, then you have all the time in the world to help others!
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I felt the same way about these exercises before I began them. I was skeptical, just as I have been about many of these exercises, but I really find them helpful, calming and overall benefical after I complete them. I am thankful to have taken this course because I feel as if it will really benefit me in my personal as well as professional life. I just need to really make time to integrate exercises such as these into my daily life.
I enjoyed reading your post
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteYour post was enlightening! I know how you feel about not have any "me time". I go to work, go to school, am raising a family, married, deal with with everyday drama from having ateenager and add all of the other hustle and bustle. I have a hard time focusing in on some of these exercises, but as the weeks move forward, maybe I will succeed in at least one! Thank you for sharing your personal thoughts!
Stacey