Everyone has a story

I attended a conference this past weekend, and as I arrived I joined a group of about 75 people who were mingling in an open auditorium.  The conversation was animated and I found myself in the middle of an interesting discussion when suddenly a meek voice quietly shouted out for everyone to be quiet because he had an announcement.  This person lacked the authority in his voice to sufficiently quiet the crowd, and so the crowd basically went on talking.  He sort of whined again, will everyone please be quiet.  I quieted now as did a few others but found myself annoyed with this man.  I could quiet this group, I thought to myself, somewhat arrogantly.  Why doesn’t he speak up, speak with some authority.  He again asked for everyone to be quiet and at long last the group hushed.   This man was obviously not used to working with groups I thought to myself, again in a somewhat judgmental and impatient tone.

Anyway, the day proceeded, and I went to the first talk and then to talk number two.  The speaker at the second talk was the man who was unable to quiet the crowd in the morning.  I thought, oh no, as he started to talk because I wasn’t overly impressed with his ability to manage the group earlier.  The first words out of his mouth were: “My mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was 9.  She spent two years really sick and in pain.  She died when I was 11 years old.  That event changed my entire life.”  The audience became very quiet.  I grew quiet inside of myself.  Oh damn, I thought to myself, as I cringed inside, if I had known that your mother died when you were 11 years old I would have been nicer to you when I first arrived.  I began to feel a bit like a jerk, to put it mildly.  Its not that I would have done anything different externally, it’s that I would have had been more compassionate and patient when this man was struggling to get control of the group.  I quickly shifted focus and continued to listen to this mans story and the information that he was imparting.

After the talk was over, and as I write this now, I realize that the most important thing I got from this person was the reminder that everyone has a story.  I remember my meditation teacher, Ellen Tadd, saying that if we saw deep enough into someone and if we knew their story we would naturally be flooded with a feeling of compassion.  In this case, my impatience and judgmentalness was quickly replaced with compassion as I heard this mans story.

So often, we don’t have the opportunity to hear someone’s story.  Our lives are filled with quick encounters and quick interactions.  We get annoyed or judgmental or impatient but perhaps if we did see deeply enough or knew someone’s story those feelings would be replaced with patience and compassion.  And so for today I am taking time to remind myself that everyone has a story, whether I happen to know that story or not.  Everyone has suffered.  Everyone has experienced great pain.  For today, I remind myself of the words of Plato who said:  “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

And so I share my little story with you to remind you as I remind myself:  Everyone’s got a story.  Everyone has suffered.  Everyone has experienced loss and pain.  And so for today let’s work on embodying a deeper compassion for the human condition.

As I write I hear this message:

“Life can be challenging and everyone is engaged in some kind of battle and so train yourself to bring more and more compassion to your daily life.  Start with compassion for yourself for despite your best efforts you will fall, you will be impatient and judgmental.  The important thing is to pick yourself up each time you fall and challenge yourself to hold compassion for longer and longer periods of time.  Devote the next ten minutes of your day to compassion.  With each interaction and with each person that comes to mind, see if you can hold compassion for that person, no matter how annoying or irrational or just plain wrong they may seem on the surface.  Do not confuse compassion with sympathy or with being overly nice or accommodating.  In compassion you may say yes or you may say no.  But when you hold compassion you will recognize that everyone is learning, everyone is growing and that everyone has a story.  When you are in a true compassion you will want to do what most serves the growth of the individual.  When in a true compassion you will stay patient with the learning process that everyone is involved in.  And so remember today that everyone has a story.  Remember that everyone is fighting a battle, whether you can see it or not.  Remember that everyone is learning and everyone is growing and everyone is on a long, long journey home.

Aspire to bring more compassion to your daily life.  Aspire to be a beacon of compassion.  Aspire to be the one who sees.  Aspire to be the one who understands.  Hold yourself to a higher standard than is commonly expected in your culture.  Hold yourself to a standard of excellence.  Focus on compassion for yourself and focus on compassion for others.  In this way, you will become a beacon of light for many and offer healing by your very presence alone.  Your world needs more compassion.  Your world needs more understanding.  Seek to be the one, instead of waiting for others to lead the way.  Set a new tone.  Hold a higher standard.  Aspire daily to bring more compassion to your daily life.  Let this be your experiment this week, and be aware of how this transforms and heals you and how it affects your environment. “

Affirm frequently:

I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.

I am filled with compassion for myself.
I am filled with compassion for others.
I am filled with compassion for all of humanity.

Everyone’s got a story.
Everyone’s got a battle.

I aspire to a new level.
I hold a new standard.
I hold a vibration of love and compassion more and more everyday.

I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.

Work with this affirmation through out the week and remember that everyone’s got a story. Remember that everyone is learning and remember that everyone is growing.  Know that if you knew the story you would naturally be flooded with compassion.  And so remind yourself daily that everyone has a story.  Sometimes the story has taken place in this lifetime and sometimes the story has taken place in a previous lifetime.  But know that everyone has a story.   Everyone is learning and everyone is growing.

“As you grow in your ability to hold compassion this will positively impact you, your health, your vibration, your level of awareness, how you manifest in your life and will impact your relationship with others.  Aspire daily to an elevated awareness.  Aspire daily to bring more compassion to your world. Aspire daily and you shall be successful.

Affirm frequently:

I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.

And continue to remind yourself that everyone, including you has a story.  As you grow in your compassion you will emanate a vibration that will assist in transforming not only the people you interact with but you and your life as well.  Compassion is the pinnacle spiritual principle, aspire daily to bring more of it into your life.  Do not be so concerned about how others are treating you, instead turn your attention to how you are treating others.  In the end it is your own thoughts and behavior that you will need to account for and so do not try to control others instead work on your own evolution and know that there is an force of life that is working with each individual.  As you grow and evolve you will naturally bring others along with you who will learn from your example and emanation.  And so do not worry so much about the actions of others, seek to be the best that you can be and allow others the space they need to learn and grow.  All shall eventually be successful.”

Work with the theme of compassion this week and allow it to transform you, your environment, your relationships and your quality of life.

I send light to the world

In today’s world it can be helpful to have tools to promote the healing of ourselves, others, and the world at large. One technique is the sending of gold light. Take a moment today and send light to the world at large. When you send light you send all of the qualities of spirit. When you send light, you send love. You send peace. You send strength. You send sensi…tivity. You send healing energy. And so imagine now the earth in front of you. Imagine waves and waves of celestial light pouring down upon the earth. See the whole earth being immersed with gold light. Know that as you do this you are raising the vibration of all of humanity, and elevating consciousness and awareness. And so continue to see waves and waves of gold light shining down upon the earth and allow this gold light to flood the planet. Ask, that all who are suffering be uplifted by the light. Ask that all who are lonely find comfort by the light. Ask that all of humanity be elevated by the light so that peace can prevail and healing can occur. Continue to see waves and waves of gold light penetrating the earth. See the whole earth being showered in scintillating golden light. See more and more light shining down upon the earth. Infuse the world with light. Raise the vibration. Elevate consciousness. Send peace. Send healing. Send love. Send trust. Send strength. Send sensitivity. Send light to the earth daily, and ask that this light be a healing force in the world. Know that as you send this light that you are adding light to the earth. And so one last time shower the earth with light, and allow this light to infuse all of humanity. Send light to the world at large and ask that the light go where it is needed. Do not fight darkness with darkness. Instead send light, and allow the light to raise consciousness and awareness. Allow light to bring healing. Allow light to bring in divine will. Send light, and shower the earth and all of humanity with healing energy.

And now shower yourself with gold light. Shower yourself with love, with healing, with compassion, with confidence and with strength. Immerse yourself in this gold light and allow it to uplift you. Allow it to take you higher. Allow it to elevate your consciousness and awareness. See waves and waves of gold light showering down upon you, and allow this light to bring you the healing that you need today. For some it will be a physical healing. For some it will be a shift in attitude. Some will feel deeper peace and love and others will step into greater wisdom and clarity. Shower yourself with light today, and allow the light to fill you with whatever it is you need.

“And so make sending light to yourself and sending light to the earth a daily practice. There are so many productive ways to use the mind. Instead of dwelling in negativity and contributing to the vibration of discord and fighting and hatred, spend time everyday sending light to yourself and light to the earth. It need not take more than a minute or two. Interrupt your negative thinking and instead send light. Send light to yourself. Send light to others. Send light to the world. Learn to train your mind to be a source of healing and upliftment. Seek to rise above the negativity and despair. Be a source of light for yourself and others. Use your mind productively and for the healing of yourself and the planet. Send light daily and see how this transforms both your own world and the world at large.”

Affirm frequently:

I send light.
I send light to myself.
I send light to others.
I send light to the earth, and all of humanity.

I have a trained mind.
I use my mind for my own healing, the healing of others, and the healing of the planet.
My light is a healing force in the world.
The world needs my light. I offer my full contribution.

I send light.
I send light.
I send light.
I send light.

Hayley Mermelstein

Light is all around me

Take a moment and imagine that you are in a waterfall of golden light. Imagine a celestial golden light coming down from the heavens and your entire being is being showered in this light. Imagine every cell of your body being showered in this light. Allow the gold light to elevate your awareness. Allow the gold light to take you higher and higher. Allow the light to raiseyour vibration. Allow the gold light to sweep away any limited attitudes, replacing those attitudes with a feeling of expansion, possibility, creativity and unlimited potential. Continue to shower yourself with this golden light now. Gold light is the color of the enlightened individual. It is filled with trust, with wisdom, with creativity, with power, with confidence, with love, with compassion and with healing. As you shower yourself with light you shower yourself with all of the spiritual principles. Allow the light to elevate you and raise your vibration. Allow the light to awaken your wisdom, your clarity, your love and your compassion. Allow the light to awaken your creativity, your kindness, you power and your strength. Shower yourself daily with gold light and be aware of how this affects the quality of your day.

Affirm frequently:

Celestial golden light shines down upon me.
I am enveloped in gold light.
This gold light elevates my awareness.
This gold light raises my vibration.
This gold light sweeps away any limited beliefs.
This gold light fills me with a feeling of expansion and a feeling of possibility.
This gold light awakens my wisdom, my love, my compassion, my strength and my power.
This gold light awakens my creativity, my confidence, my trust, and my expressiveness.
This gold light fills me with all of the principles of spirit.
This gold light fills me with the qualities of the enlightened individual.
I am enveloped in light.
I walk in light.
I am light, and light is all around me.
Celestial golden light shines down upon me.

~Hayley Mermelstein
TRCB Founder