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my first day of unselfishness
today on awaking I new one of the first things I need to conquer is my selfishness, and the fact I can be quick to anger.
since 6am this morning, I have managed this, I have counted multiple times when I would have thought of myself and what i want rather than my spouse. Instead, I did the opposite, and did what she would want. And each time I could feel a little anger build up, or frustration, I took 2 deep breaths and shut my eyes, and thought of my daily Buddha quote.
....And well...What a nice feeling...To actually make someone else happy, rather, than...well...myself.
Even something so small like this. After lunch my cat jumped up on me, he would usually have been pushed to the floor as I had a black shirt on, and it shows cat hair horribly. Instead, I took 45 mins of my day to just let him rest on me, and after 45 mins, he moved of and slept beside me, with a look of "Thank you, ill get of you now as I know your busy"
Silly story...I know...
My fear of tomorrow is not as bad as it were a week ago. There is so much going on right now, tomorrow is to far away to put thought into
Love
Richard
since 6am this morning, I have managed this, I have counted multiple times when I would have thought of myself and what i want rather than my spouse. Instead, I did the opposite, and did what she would want. And each time I could feel a little anger build up, or frustration, I took 2 deep breaths and shut my eyes, and thought of my daily Buddha quote.
....And well...What a nice feeling...To actually make someone else happy, rather, than...well...myself.
Even something so small like this. After lunch my cat jumped up on me, he would usually have been pushed to the floor as I had a black shirt on, and it shows cat hair horribly. Instead, I took 45 mins of my day to just let him rest on me, and after 45 mins, he moved of and slept beside me, with a look of "Thank you, ill get of you now as I know your busy"
Silly story...I know...
My fear of tomorrow is not as bad as it were a week ago. There is so much going on right now, tomorrow is to far away to put thought into
Love
Richard
0
Comments
If you take care of the center (yourself) you will be better able to care for others towards the outside of the mandala.
The mandala keeps stretching outwards from spouse to cat to neighbor to everyone..
Even seemingly small victories are important on the Path and we should rejoice in them, well done!
Excellent, keep it up!
In addition to what others have said I will say that there need not be any dichotomy between "my happiness" and "other's happiness". If we take joy in other people's happiness then both parties will be happy. This might take a lot of patience to achieve, but it is totally possible and well worth it. One way to speed up the process would be to practice Metta (loving-kindness) meditation on a regular basis (preferably daily).
Here's a few links to some talks by Bhante Sujato about the practice of Metta:
Guided Metta Meditation
Metta Meditation
The Practice of Metta
With Metta,
Guy