Bless-yourself-and-others

Bless Yourself and Others

Think about that difficult person in your life.  Maybe it is a spouse, a friend, a colleague, a boss at work, and just the thought of them raises your blood pressure.  I discovered a long time ago that when I feel this emotion inside, I need to resolve it right away.  Try this, say a blessing over them.  Give them the peace, understanding, or softness that they need.  Close your eyes, visualize the person standing right in front of you, reach up similar to the photo above, and offer them a blessing.

You can also do that with yourself when you’ve done something that reflects your less than best efforts.  It might be a mistake or maybe something you said that you regret.  Close your eyes, picture yourself seated in a chair, and offer a blessing on yourself for going through life as best as you can.

We don’t all get it right, and if you’re a perfectionist, you need to offer this wisdom to yourself.  Declare the very thing that you wish for the person or yourself.  That may be peace, or knowledge, or an understanding between the two of you.  If you do this with sincerity and from your heart repeatedly, you will notice a difference.  As the middle school principal, I had a challenging colleague to settle a problem with at one point in my career.  In the past, the exchanges that we had were difficult and painful. Before I met with her this time, I decided that I would do several visualizations of our meeting.

I saw us talking calmly; I saw that I was offering advice on a situation and that she accepted it without any problem.  I went over and over the meeting until I felt very positive about it.  The next day, I set up an appointment with her, and we talked about the problem.  It went fabulously and without any problem.  It was then that I immediately wondered why I had not used that before during difficulties.

Our natural, healthy, default disposition is that of a positive, compassionate, and understanding nature.  It is then when we operate at our best.  So why not go easy on yourself and offer a blessing when you’re in the midst of verbally chewing yourself out.  Offer that difficult colleague some compassion and understanding for the next time that you see them and work hard to be your best and not get tangled up in their negativity.

Here’s what I know, “If you have a problem with someone, settle it right away, do not wait.”  Call that person right now and say that this has gone on long enough, and I apologize for not settling this sooner. I want to offer peace between us.  You will be so glad you did that your step will feel a little lighter.

A solid cousin to Bless Yourself and Others in this post, check it out here, Rise to Give – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Would you like 100 more ways to bless others?  Click here, 100 Little Ways to Bless Others – More Radiance

Yours for a Better Life,

Rich