One Simple Thing U Can Do 2 Change This Sometimes Scary World We Live In
Yesterday I was sitting in a meeting with my colleagues and was discussing the wariness and sometimes outright fear that I feel when commuting into work on the train. My senses are always on. I’m always looking around and assessing my fellow commuters. I’m ready to “See Something, Say Something”, I look for my escape route. To be honest, it’s a pretty sh*tty way to feel on what should just be a train ride home or to work and I wish I didn’t have to feel this way but it’s hard to not translate what you see on TV and sort of be ready for it to maybe happen to you. I, sadly, often do the same thing in movie theaters which doesn’t make for the most enjoyable experience. But obviously we can’t live our lives this way right? Sure we have to be aware but if we let ourselves get too caught up in this thinking, it can lead to paralysis, paranoia and worse.
So what can I do and what can you do to try to counter this? Well, this might sound simple and it might not even feel like you’re making a difference in the world (but I would disagree – I believe this actually works) but I think at a very simple level you can just think, feel and send out love. I tried it yesterday. It was a super crowded train and I felt myself beginning to grow tense (and my Spire told me I was getting tense too) and I decided to try a different approach. I closed my eyes and started to send out love to my fellow passengers. I sat there and thought, “I love each one of you. I love your humanity. I love your faults. I love our connectedness. I love that we’re all here on this planet together. I love that you have someone who loves you too. I love that you matter. I love that you are me and that I am you.” I just sat there and tried to picture warm rays of love coming out of me and touching every unhappy and stressed commuter on that train. I know, I know, it sounds cheesy but stay with me here.
So did it work? Did someone feel that love and turn around and look at me meaningfully in the eye? Did I make that real world connection with someone and change the energy on that train? Well no. At least not that I could see or sense but I felt love. It caused a shift inside of me. I felt that connectedness with those around me. I was no longer feeling tense or anxious or fearful. I just felt peaceful and that somehow, it would all be ok.
It’s not rocket science and it doesn’t immediately address all of this world’s problems but I believe in my heart that if we all did this, if we all committed to just trying to feel love towards one another, we could start to shift. Will you try it with me and let me know how it makes you feel? Sending you all, obviously, lots of love!
Shift Your Life & Perspective with One Simple Exercise
Have you ever noticed that you can just sort of float through life without really noticing what’s going on around you? Think about your day for a moment. You get up, stumble into the bathroom, get dressed, head out, drink some coffee, start your day, get through your day, eat some lunch, drink some coffee, come home, eat some dinner, drink some more coffee (ok, maybe I just drink this much coffee), do whatever it is you do in the evening and go back to bed to start all over again. We all get into this rhythm of life but we’re so asleep while we’re living we miss most of what’s going on around us.
Here’s a little exercise you can try to see every day things in a new light. Let’s take a tree as an example, A long time ago, someone decided that this large thing in front of us with a trunk and leaves should be called a tree. Ever since then, we have all walked around like little robots acknowledging in our periphery: Tree. Tree. Tree. Another Tree. Tree. Big Tree. Small tree. Dead Tree. Pretty Tree. Green Tree. Blah blah blah.
Now imagine that you have never seen a tree before. Imagine that you are just seeing this amazing thing for the first time and you have no idea what it is and you have no idea what it’s named. In fact, maybe it doesn’t even need a name. Maybe it just is. Really take some time to look at it. Look at how the sun filters through the leaves. Listen to how the wind blows through the branches. Look at the birds and bugs that use it’s trunk and branches for food, for support, for protection. Step back and really notice this thing that you previously have just skimmed over as tree.
Sort of makes you look at life a little differently doesn’t it? Once in awhile, try this little exercise with different items that you see and encounter in your every day life. Decide to notice it for the first time. Forget what you think you know about it including it’s name. Open your eyes to what is really before you. It’s a small but powerful way to shift your perspective which inevitably, shifts who you are just a little bit and that’s a good thing.
You try it now. Look at something around you. See if differently. Notice it. Describe it. Really really notice it. How did it shift your perspective? What did it make you think? Share with me and others to help teens live happy!
The Secret Handbook 4 Teens 