I cannot believe we are in unit 7 already, where has the time gone? This was another interesting unit and each week I am finding myself more and more excited to start off the unit in anticipation for growing within myself, I feel like I have come a long way since I first began this class. I have to be perfectly honest, when I started this course I was thinking how silly all of this meditation was, and always had a difficult time understanding how others would find this practice useful. I can now say seven weeks later that it is much more than just "meditation" it is a practice of reaching that inner peace within yourself, and releasing negative emotions and feelings as they enter your mind. This weeks practice exercise mindful meditation was one of the most useful ones I have done to date, I found this to be very relaxing. The part that gets me really excited is the fact that each time I sit down to do the meditation it is becoming easier and easier, I am becoming relaxed much quicker and ultimately I am finding each meditation more and more valuable. I still have not perfected this and I truly believe this will all come over time, however I have come a long ways from the first time I sat down to meditate, when my mind was going a hundred miles an hour I could not concentrate on anything, it's much different now. As a result I feel like I have grown tremendously, I am able to really look at life in such a different light, the small insignificant things that used to really bother me now just roll off my shoulders, I am conscious of my feelings and what they mean, and I am conscious of others around me, everybody that I am in contact with in this life has some sort of meaning to me, as does my life as a whole, and I value those characteristics, because they have gone unnoticed for far to long.
The quote "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself'" is very well said and something I describe as a model to live by. We cannot encourage others or expect others to believe in our methods or logic if we have not first practiced what we preach. Life all in itself is an example; we learn by experience and through wisdom and through trial and error. When we have practiced a certain logic or method in life it better prepares us to teach others and gives us a certain sense of credibility, people can see the "fruits of our labor" and they will respect and trust our judgement and guidance.
Here's to another week of learning and progress!
Michelle
I agree that the saying 'one cannot lead another' means to practice what you preach; I have seen too many health care providers that were hypocrites in telling me how be healthier... I was told by my last Dr. to lose weight but he was overweight himself; he finally realized and lost 20 lbs just to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteI have experienced a change from this class as well, there has been so much to learn and to teach those around us. :)
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you that you are getting so much out of this class :) I agree with your explanation of credibility. I think that by going through things in our life we are better equipped to explain them and relate to other people about them. You know how to approach them better, when to listen or to talk, or the common pitfalls. Many times I think I understand what someone is going through and then when I go through something similar myself I realize I had no idea. I think realizing that has allowed me to take a step back in situations that I might not understand and just hold my tongue and not advise on something I'm not real sure about. Because I have to say it's quite annoying when other people do it to me lol. Goodluck with the rest of the class and afterward as well! :)
That's great, Michelle! I too am getting a lot from class, although I still have a lot of work to do on myself. It's been a bit hard for me to entirely relax, I guess I'm just a bit of a nervous person. But I am glad I'm not too much of a nervous parent for my sons sake.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying hard to make sense of the quote from the book. It seems as though I do agree that it makes sense to practice what you preach. I should just keep telling my son's father about that one!