Slow down and make your interactions matter
One aspect of spirituality is the belief that we are all connected. It's an easy idea to swallow, when you get to thinking about this.
We share the same molecular structure. I can use your blood or tissue or organs or you can use mine and it will sustain us. We all have the same needs. What you do clearly impacts me – if you side-swipe my car, I'm touched in a very real way by you, just as I am if you send me flowers. And, science explains how, through emotional contagion – the spreading of emotions – we can uplift or deflate the feelings of people we've never even met. We truly are connected.
Yet, we don't often go through the day thinking about that. We go through the day busy. We're working through our to-do list, trying to figure out what to make for dinner and how to get more money in the bank. We go through the day thinking about our own needs.
Open to the interaction
What if instead, you focused your attention on having the best, most sincere interactions you can with everyone you meet from the checker at Safeway to the partner who comes home at night?
How would it change their day – and yours – if you looked at them when they spoke? If you waited until they finished saying "have a good day" before you walked away. What effect would it have, if everyone you encountered felt seen and heard by you? How would it change your experience if you really saw the people you pass by every day and reached out to them silently – or with kind words – from your heart center, to connect with them.
Of course this all requires awareness. It requires slowing down. And you're going to have to listen before you speak, and lift your head up to make eye contact even when you'd rather hide away and avoid talking. But, for one day see what it's like to really connect from a place of acceptance and respect with the others you encounter and notice how it changes your experience.
I've tried this myself.
No one is insignificant
One particular day when I was feeling a bit lonely and isolated, (normally I love to be alone and quiet — probably one reason I love to write) I decided to open up to every interaction I had instead of taking my usual approach and dropping my eyes in an attempt to avoid communication. I'd listen, look at people, smile even. And, if they said something to me, I'd respond with something other than a cliché.
During the exercise, I realized that interactions take place constantly – even when I think I'm avoiding them. When we drop our eyes, disregard, or fail to notice, we are connecting with others just the same, it's just that the messages we're sending out speak of insignificance rather than importance. I don't want anyone who comes into my life to feel insignificant.
I looked at the woman at Starbucks, during my interaction exercise, and smiled when I said 'Thank You.' I stood quietly and smiled too at the overwhelmed Safeway clerk, and joked with the guy at the gas station while I was waiting for the tank to fill. I got up to greet my husband when he came home though I was in the middle of something else. And, when my daughter came into the room, I put down my work to listen.
I reached out silently or verbally to every person I encountered and by the end, I was reminded how vast this community is and again how connected we all are – whether we realize it or not. I realized how responsible I am for the energy I bring and how I want to bring the good stuff. And, by the end of the day, I felt a whole lot less alone.
ON ANOTHER NOTE: I'm really excited about my newest e-class Live the Life You Are Meant To Live. This class shows you how to tap into your greatest self to live the life you desire and make a positive difference in the world. I really believe in this and I think you'll have a blast going through the exercises. Sign-up here: The Daily Om — Live the Life You Are Meant to Live
