I think the exercise I find to be most beneficial to my
mental fitness is the Loving Kindness exercise.
This one has been the hardest for me to master, however I think it has
had the best outcomes for me. It helps
me to be able to forgive more easily and reminds me to have compassion for
everyone around me. You just don’t know
what someone else is going through in their own life, and remembering that we
all need compassion and forgiveness is a really great thing. Just thinking about how this practice helps
me to foster mental fitness makes me think of a few years back when I used to
get road rage all of the time. I had
quite a long commute to and from work on the Interstate highway. Of course I wanted to get home as quickly as
possible, but so does everyone else. I
would get so upset when someone would cut me off or make some idiotic
move. I don’t get road rage anymore, and
I can really tell a difference in my attitude and demeanor when I reach my
destination. As long as I arrive safely
I can let the unimportant things go and just be glad that I am lucky enough to
have a car, a job, and the money to get where I need to go. Having a positive attitude makes all of the
difference!
Hi Kathryn !
ReplyDeleteI loved your picture at the end of your post waving from you car window with a big smile obviously a product of doing Loving Kindness Meditation instead of having road rage! Good for you and what a great way to use this meditation. Thank you for sharing that as it helped me to use it in dealing with my room mate who turns the AC up high when I as sleeping and I wake up sweating and want to kill her!! I get so mad when my sleep is interrupted but the Loving Kindness meditation could help me deal with her like it helps you deal with your road rage! Good blog!
Cindy
Great post! I agree with you that the Loving Kindness practice helps remind us to be more compassionate towards others and it helps to remind us that there are people out there that are less fortunate than us. You are right that we have no idea what other people are going through and we all need to be mindful and have forgiveness and compassion for others.
ReplyDeleteGood for you that you have used this exercise to benefit you in your life and you no longer have road rage. Road rage can be very dangerous and no one really benefits from it. You are right that you are lucky enough to have a car, a job, and money to go wherever you need and want to go. Having a positive attitude makes the world of a difference in every situation in life. Good for you!
The loving-kindness practice is wonderful. It has truly helped me in the area of forgiving people. I have always had a hard time in forgiving people who have did something wrong to me. This practice has made me realize that I need to forgive the person anyway regardless of what they have done. It is not always hard to do, but, I guess we have to do. It is so wonderful to know that this exercise have helped you with your commute to and from work. There are some crazy driving people out there. Having a positive attitude will help you a long way in life.
ReplyDeleteI love the loving kindness exercise. I find it hard to forgive people, very hard sometimes, but with this exercise I have found it to be a little easier to forgive.
ReplyDeleteRoad rage can make you lose it. I think it is amazing that you are able to control yours. That is one thing I need to work on but I struggle with it. You made a great point about everyone wanting to reach their destination as soon as possible. It's just annoying when somebody cuts you off to try and shorten their trip time. From now on I will try to have positive thoughts as I drive and hopefully void off and road rage I might have lurking.
ReplyDeleteHi Katheryn,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on "Loving-Kindness" totally. Although it is easy, but it leads to a good destination. Tolerating someone else or forgiving someone for doing you wrong can be very difficult, but doing it is beneficial for both parties.
Great post.