So I’m still reading ‘Just one thing’ by Rick Hanson and I’m working on integrating his practices into daily life. You know I just read the second practice and there were some extremely important take aways. For example if you’re going to try to do any personal development you need to fully invest yourself. It’s funny how it makes complete sense when you think about it. It’s no different than if you were going to learn to play an instrument or learn to program for computers. If you’re going to do any anything involving learning you have to engage fully. If you don’t invest you won’t fully learn or development the skills you’re working to achieve.
So the second practice is to ‘take in the good’ or focusing on the positive. No big deal right? Oy! I don’t think this is easy at all. In reading this section in the book I find solace in the fact that this book is written from a scientific point of view. Scientifically they have noted that we respond better to the negative influences in our life. If you look at the development of humans we’ve learned to survive by avoiding the whatever it is that going to hurt us. So by reading this you find that it’s not something to beat yourself up about. It’s centuries of human development.
Take in the positive! Every little positive thing that happens your day should be noted and you should praise yourself. EVERY LITTLE THING! Don’t let the negative voice pull you down and talk poorly about your achievements. I read all my email today. I responded to all my email today. I wrote a blog post today. Someone may say well that’s no big deal. You can dismiss this kind of negative response. This is negative and NOT something to affect you.
So my task for this week is to focus on the positive in my life. I can see how I don’t give myself credit for all those small things that I do/get done in a day. You know it’s the whole “day in a life of” thing. So no matter how small of an accomplishment it is I need to recognize it the accomplishment and celebrate it. For example, yesterday I went on a 3 hour walking tour of restaurants, stopped to visit my fiends at Eye a, went to the grocery story, prepared some pasta sauce, went to dinner with Susan, did a load of laundry and relaxed for an hour at the end of the day. That’s a lot going on in a single day. I have to remember that I do as much or more than most people.
If you like mental imagery the way I’m going to start thinking about this is to picture myself with a kind of bubble around myself. This bubble helps filter out garbage (negative thoughts). While the bubble lets the positive through like water or air. The positive thoughts should refresh you and make you feel warm. I’ll close my eyes and feel the positive accomplishments warming my body.
This is going to be a great week. I will focus on the positive. I will let the positive warm my insides. This feeling will not leave room for negative garbage. The negative will just slide off like a fried egg from Teflon. I will work to make this my truth.
If you had something you want to share or add please leave a comment below. I am interested in hearing what others think. I’m sure many people have been through something similar.
I’m grateful for:
- I’m grateful for the fun opportunities that I’m afforded here in San Francisco like the Mission restaurant tour that I took yesterday.
- I’m grateful for my boss who is a great person.
- I’m grateful that I am a good cook.
I’m curious about:
- The extinction of honey bees.
- What my friend Bob is doing today.
- Why people don’t try to change their lives like I have.
I’m surprised by:
- The science that I’m reading the book, Just One Thing.
- How many NPR stories deal with California.
- How I miss the steamy hot weather of New Orleans.
