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Below is my reflection to a thought provoking excerpt from Shannon Lee's "Be Water, My Friend".
We all need relationships to learn and grow. According to my understanding, there are two kinds of relationship: intrapersonal and interpersonal. How do I cultivate my relationship with me and my relationship with others? I mindfully attend to my inner world of thoughts, feelings and emotions and examine them with an open mind which helps me to arise and lift me up and what brings me down. In that way I face myself and learn from myself. The same way I keep my mind and heart open to receive feedback from others. This is the way I learn and grow. When I was participating in an encounter group, I learned about what blocks me from expanding my consciousness. There have been times I when I am blind to my inner world and actions. In the encounter group I saw my own blindness and that helped me to see the light. Open mindedness has been very helpful to me. Awareness what is happening in my mind and heart also helps me. I know this is an ongoing process and that helps me continue growing. Namaste!
1 Comment
Debbie Podwika
8/13/2022 12:52:16 pm
This is a very timely post. Currently, it is something that I have been focusing on with a few relationships in my life. I mentioned in a session Dr. Dave, that you once told our class "Sometimes you put on someone else's shoes, and they don't fit." That resonated with me, and I think of it all the time. Recently, I have been mindful of another phrase, "Treat people the way you would like to be treated." I am finding that while it seems good in a general way, it really is not always appropriate. It generally it means we would like people to be kind to us etc. so we should be kind to them, but what it lacks is giving individuality to the person. For example, perhaps we are talking about a doctor and patient. One individual patient might be more of the type that says, "Give it to me straight doc." whereas another patient that would be the worst thing to do for them. Now, if the doctor's view is he would like it straight and treats all his patients that way, that is not good for many of his patients. Now with this OP, even with the person who likes it straight, he/she may not be like that every day or time of the day. You do need to assess their mood at the time, what might be happening in their life, like this past year and a half for me losing my mom, I certainly was not my "usual/typical" self. I agree asking what is wrong can be helpful, even to a stranger. When they are all upset say in the grocery store, when I'm relax and am mindful, I can remember to think "something is wrong" and it usually has nothing to do with how slow the check-out line is. I've even asked the person sometimes and you just see their face drop and they apologize and even say what is bothering them a bit and you can show empathy to them and relate with them. Leave a Reply. |
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