262 Days to Go ~ Lessons from the Indian Prayer

Yesterday I had the sweetest of experiences. I decided that one way to stop arguing with family members would be to change how I talk to them. It was suggested to me by a close friend that I might try to see things from the other person's perspective. That was a very difficult challenge for me. Immediately this old Indian prayer came into my mind. I wondered, "What is it like over there where the person I am talking to is sitting? What do they see in me? What are they hearing from me? Why would that person be frustrated with me or the situation at hand? Or, even more simply to take "me" completely out of the conversation at hand and to focus for a moment on the other person, to walk a mile in his or her moccasins.

What an astounding conversation came from that experiment! It was worth trying again! So, throughout the day I applied that same principle with other people I spoke to, whether they were family members, friends or telemarketers. The results again were surprising. I was able to feel more peaceful and loving during the conversations. I had nothing to guard against because it wasn't all about me. 

I know it may come as an interesting tidbit of things to know about me, but yes... sometimes I protect myself so well that I forget that I have all of the planets rotating around me again by the wave of my very hand. Did you know we are all that powerful? Well, I do, and it doesn't become me. I don't want to behave that way, yet at times my unforgiving autopilot kicks in and I am then not really listening to people around me anymore. I hear them, and I think I listen, but I don't try very hard to understand where they are coming from. Not good for two-way communicating, only for self-centeredness.

Yesterday's lesson, a lesson from long ago, appeals to me because of my challenge to be more healthy ~ emotionally and mentally healthy. From that goal, I've come up with some emotional exercises. We exercise our bodies, we exercise our minds, why not our emotions? Here's the exercises I'd like to implement:

LEVEL 1: (Beginners) Before you speak, walk a mile in your companion's moccasins.

LEVEL 2: (Advanced) Before you criticize, walk a mile in your companion's moccasins.

Because I will be on Level 1 for a while, probably a long while, please be patient with me if I am slow to respond in a conversation of value. I will be imagining how your walk has been so I can match my footsteps to it. Pass it on!