8 asana of the heart - being MERCIFUL

People create problems, right? That is normal and it is accepted, at least until a certain point. It is part of the game of relationships and a healthy relationship is capable of embracing that reality, forgiving and moving on.

But some problems cause deep wounds in the soul. Other people you know have hurt others; some have hurt you. And, yes, sometimes you have hurt others. What is the medicine for such a hurt?

To respond with the word love would look cheap for me a few years ago; that was when I decided to explore the subject of love and I was able to dismiss the type that offers an easy and simplistic answer. It is simply not realistic as love cannot heal anybody by itself, just like a hug can't heal a child who fell; it is just an emotional response, it just provides some psychological support and, of course, it is worthwhile. But it does not heal.

However, love can be expressed in various ways and there is a form that heals. MERCY.

Mercy is a type of love that comes from a particular relationship or even profession, so it does not fluctuate easily and it is much focused. How is mercy used to heal a relationship? The person will use their specialty to help the other one.

A mother will help her child by giving advice or by unburden him or her of some chores.

A doctor will treat their patient by giving medicine, but mostly by giving the best of their expertise.

A salesman will give a chance for another person to accomplish their dream.

A spiritual person maybe won't give something physical, but their words and their vibrations are very merciful.

 

How are you going to express mercy towards other people today?

 

This post is part of a series called 8 asana of the heart.

I recommend you to watch 8 postures of the heart.

 

¿Am I alone or lonely?

A few years ago, my sister married a Colombian and moved to this country, where I live. My mother then found herself literally alone... At the beginning, I felt anxiety in her and maybe she was a little scared, but what she did was to use her bright and natural creativity, by creating systems that gave her a sense of security, for example, with a hairdresser, organized to call her daily...

Some may argue that loneliness has become an epidemic[1]. And if we think about it, about 30 years ago it was difficult to find someone who lived alone; nowadays, it's too easy.

Nothing against it; actually, I like to live alone - well, almost alone, since I live in a small community, but I have a separate space. OK, the issue here is not that; the theme is the growing loneliness.

We may not be able to prevent someone from being alone, but we can avoid the experience of loneliness, and the first thing, as my mother found out, is to connect with the community.

If you reflect for a moment, you will perceive that there is an invisible network that unites all the people around you, generating a beautiful network of protection and care; this is the community.

My first conscious experience of really being alone was in Santiago, Chile. I was new to that country and I still didn't feel being part of a community, something that was later generated. So when Christmas came and I had no one to share... I had never really given much value to this holiday, but that day, yes, I realized that I really wanted to be with other people. So I reflected a while, look inside me and used creativity, one of my specialties. I called some people who were in contact with the organization I was coordinating and we planned a lunch together. I was never a good cook, but that day everything went amazing; not only was the food delicious, about 7 or 8 people came and I experienced a real Christmas.

The other way to overcome that feeling of loneliness - and if it is an epidemic, it is likely to affect you soon - is to look inside, find your own specialties and make use of them.

We will not always have a community and the reasons are diverse, in such a complex society, but we will always have our own inner wealth. In making use of this treasure, we will naturally experience satisfaction and change our perspective not being lonely even though I am alone.

Then, we will deliver these specialties to the world and the world will return us company of some kind.

I don't know if it's the cure to loneliness, but this is my humble suggestion: connect more with your community and look inside yourself, finding specialties that you can give to the world.

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[1] Check these articles on lonelines as an epidemic in relation to:

Global Youth: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/1-in-3-young-adults-are-lonely-and-it-affects-their-mental-health/

United States: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/envy/201902/loneliness-new-epidemic-in-the-usa

Tips of productivity

To be productive gives you more than just an edge or a pay raise, it gives you a great possibility for improvement. It is important for me, not only because from a professional perspective, but also for my own development.

With this in mind, in this post, I will share with you some of the things I do to be more productive. They are generic attitudinal aspects and later I will make my best to go into practical details.

• Try and try and try… There is no right formula or right way to do things in less time getting maximum gaining, which is a definition of productivity. So you must try several times.
• Use your specialties. I am good with IT in general, so I use lots of spreadsheet, google calendar, etc. Check your specialties and work from them.
• Create categories in relation to what you have to do. I myself have EVENTS (once), PROJECTS (more than once) and TASKS (may be repeated).
• Organize your life in a natural way. If something is not natural, it will be hard to do it. A suggestion is that you check a very productive day looking for aspects in relation to what you have done, in which order and how. Then, just replicate that to other days.
• Establish a series of routines. People are scared of it, but for a productive person, a routine is something you can do without thinking much, enabling you to give energy to more important aspects of your life. How many people have amazing ideas while taking a shower?
• Manage negative disruptions. Although disruption in itself is negative, it is the terror of a productive person being interrupted by something and having to diverge their energy towards solving it. I use lots of slips of paper when I am interrupted; I note what I was doing at that point, so that I can continue later.
• Embrace positive disruptions. Yes, there are disruptions that are most welcome. Recently, I had the visit of my mum and sister, and it was great to stop the flow of my personal production and dedicate time to them… It reenergizes, revitalizes and it makes you see things in a different perspective.

Your specialties inspire - Reason 15

All of us are special and we have qualities that are unique in our context.  Those specialties impact our family and friends, our jobs and the contribution we give to the community.  Specialties define us in relation to how others see us and also how we feel about life, and can therefore become valuable components for self-esteem.

A normal person can experience qualities that help harmonise relationships, increase self-esteem and attain some success, but a leader is one whose specialties will motivate others.

Many years ago, I had the chance to be with Dadi Prakashmani, the then Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris[1].  We were in a car, without translator; Dadi spoke very little English and I spoke very little Hindi.  This would be a problem for many people trying to communicate, but not for us …

Going beyond words and cultures, she gave me the best leadership seminar and the greatest inspirations ever, all in about an hour.  This is because it came from her own life, and from those specialties that flowed and influenced her words as the powerful leader she was.  In fact, I don’t remember what she said as much as how she said.

By being a leader, a person does not need to talk too much.  Actions and behaviour will do all the speaking, since the leader’s specialties will resonate with the others’ hearts.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

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[1] Dadi Prakashmani (c.1920 – 2007) was an Indian woman of Sindhi origin who administered the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University from 1969 until the time to her death 38 years later.  The number of students increased from about 3,000 to almost a million during that period.

Acknowledging your specialties

Many years ago, there was the praise of the "all-round" one, that is, the person who could do anything at any time. These people were valued by companies and communities and they created friends wherever they went.

Much later and a few years back, the new trend was of those who were specialized. Experts in their subject, in a very complex society, these people were hunted by companies that would pay them lots of money for whatever they could do.

Well, what is happening today exactly? As a continuation of specialization, companies and communities are valuing individuals' specialties. Let's understand that and the impact on our economy and society in general.

Although the all-rounder could do anything, quality was missing and quantity was favored. Specialists raised the quality keeping quantity. But that is not enough.

There is a moment when people start to have doubts in this wave of consumerism. After all, whatever you purchase, whatever service you get, normally you want that because of some need to be satisfied, or you could say to experience some kind of happiness out of it. But that happiness is hardly eternal... after a while, no matter how wonderful was whatever you have got, you would want more and something different.

People nowadays need more than just objects or moments of experience. They need someone who can get in touch with them. We all need friends who understand us and who help us really with our needs.

So, many years in the future, this new trend will be all over the place. People won't pay much attention to the color of their cell phone or the brand of the car, as they will pay attention to the people who help them. There will be a bond in business that was never ever imagined. This will be possible because people will work from the heart, based on what they really love to do and they are good at it, that thing that makes them so special on others' eyes.

Today... well, today that is being built by you, when you talk to your client, student or the citizen who looks for your help with dignity and respect. It starts with you when you give others more than what they ask for. It starts with you when you give others the love from your heart, your mercy and compassion. Your sincerity and friendship.

It starts when you recognize your own specialty. Believe it or not, there is something only you can do in the way you do, and that is the special power present in whatever you do in life.

Perhaps, the other trend will take some time to start, but the impact in the economy will be great enough to start a new age where humans become the focus of our civilization again.

The What's of life

If you go back to the post former to this one, you'll see a nice picture there, and I would like to really go through it.

• What you Love - that is what really make you move, challenge life and comforts, and change your perspective. This is why many people say that the only way for you to never work in life is to love whatever you do. But, LOVE, from the depth of your heart, with all your senses and understanding.
• What you Do Well - there are things that you don't necessarily love, but you know how to do it well. I know a person who is excellent with equipment, but he does not like that. Still, your specialities, skills and talents help you to serve the community where you live.
• What the World will Need - well, a part of what you do and are contributes to the world somehow. If you are able to identify those aspects of your life that the world really needs today, even though people don't know they need that, then your life will be worthy to the world itself.
• What the World will Pay for - but there are things you can offer the world and, well, charge for it. They are important in a certain context and somehow they help people who appreciate that. And you are the best provider around!

So, now, I would like to ask you 4 questions:

1. What are you ready to do, it doesn't matter how many obstacles you will have to face to do it?
2. What are those things you do that people are satisfied and happy with that.
3. Do you know what you do that makes your heart deeply satisfied because you were able to help the whole world?
4. What are the main products you can offer to the world at this moment?

In the next post, we will talk about the intersections.

A chai in the morning

In many different countries, the term chai is already know as tea with (or "in") milk. However, there is no chai as in India.

Some days ago, drinking chai in the mountains of Northern India, I was thinking about its recipe. It is pretty simple: you boil milk, add tea herb, sugar as you like and spices (ginger is probably the most used). ¿Easy? Yes, but for some reason...

Well, nobody prepares a chai like Indians do!

It is just like the Southamerican arepa or the Brazilian farofa - you can have the recipe, but there is something deeper. Genes? Not sure, but there is something more than the recipe, definitely.

In the same way, every person, every community or country, has a chai recipe, something which is unique to them, which cannot be replicate by anybody else. It is the "special" speciality everyone has, something we have been preparing and cultivating inside our beings for years and years.

For me, human kind is like a vitral: not only it is beautiful as a whole, but each piece in itself is a wonder.

Your chai can be the way you speak, a skill, art, the fact you know how to cook pizza or smile, not matter what happes around you. Perhaps it is the way you deal with stress, your profession, love or being a mother. Your chai can be the fact you know stadistics by heart or you sing in the shower.

And that chai has a deep effect in everything that happens around you. It is the colour and shape of you, in the vitral of humanity.

Well, do you recognise your own chai?