Quote:
Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina  |
To piggy-back a little on what Erin writes in her blog post, one thing that I struggled with for a long time was how to induce a feeling of compassion in myself when I didn't feel it initially.
In my profession, I very often have to work with people who are in a very negative state. Often, their lack of a sense of self-responsiblity or self-awareness makes it very hard for me to help them and can actually cause me to be frustrated or angry.
To avoid this and continue to be effective in my work, I had to figure out how to feel compassion for someone whom I initiall felt annoyance and enmity towards.
The answer for me? Puppies.
Yep. Puppies.
I'm a "dog person" and absolutely love dogs - puppies especially. When I think of puppies, I can't help but to feel all warm and fuzzy. I mean who CAN'T have compassion for a small, furry, big-eyed puppy?? Corny, I know, but it WORKS. All I have to do is recognize that someone is pushing my buttons (not always the easiest thing to do) and then think about puppies. Once I have that "..awwww... that's cute..." feeling, I can latch on to it and then transfer that feeling to the person I'm working with so that I can be effective in helping them.
Perhaps, in your case, there is something that ALWAYS makes you feel strong and empowered when you think of it. If there is, then as soon as you feel yourself falling into Fear, conciously readjust what you are thinking about to whatever empowers you. Concentrate on that feeling and allow it to fill you up. Then go to sleep.
Not only will you likely sleep better, I bet you'll have more powerful Dreams too.
