Everybody love Everybody … Is that even possible?? What if your dislike its so deep, so firmly intrenched that you’ve been hanging on to it for years.
In some far-off monastery, perhaps a lone monk enjoys a life of peace, without a single hateful thought ever crossing his mind. For most of the rest of us, thinking some hateful or negative thoughts has, well, happened to all of us.
So how can we tame our thoughts and improve our well-being? Research shows that repression doesn’t work. In fact, the harder you try not to think about something, the more likely it is to pop back into your thoughts. This rebound effect is particularly common with emotional concepts, such as hate or love.
The key then is not to try and NOT think about Hate or negative thoughts, but instead, replace them with something positive.
I’ve become an amateur gardner of sorts … I’ve learned one undeniable truth. If you plant flowers in your garden … you get Flowers. If you plant weeds in your garden … you get weeds. If you plant nothing in your garden … you still get weeds.
So in the absence of productive gardening , or thinking … you get negative thinking. Its not enough to remove the weeds … you have to plant something productive in its place.
It’s why I’ve never really understood the philosophy of meditating by “emptying your mind”?? I believe whole heartedly that we should meditate, but it needs to be focused on something positive. Or unfortunately as much as we try, the pressures of the day, the weeds, will creep back in.
Have you ever seen a cow chew his cud? I know it’s kinda gross. It chews it’s food a little and then several hours later he regurgitates it up and chews on it some more. A cow can’t regurgitate on an empty stomach, and we can meditate on an empty mind. It has to be on something positive, uplifting, that we have previously taken in.
The 7 day mental diet has been a challenge, as I’m sure it has for all of us. But its worth the effort and even though it might seem mechanical at first, the mental exercise is worth the work!!
Much Love!