Unit 6 Integral Assessment

Well, I must admit I let the weather get the best of me this weekend.  It was our first beautiful weekend of the Spring, and I kind of let my responsibilities slide to enjoy it.  Hoping this is not a sign of what I am going to have to compete with all summer.  I'm pretty excited because I only have to work four more hours on a Friday this entire year.  Bring on April 15th, I'm ready for my life to become less busy! 

Okay, on to the task at hand, Universal Loving Kindness and the Integral  Assessment.  I was pretty skeptical with the Universal Loving Kindness exercise.  I thought I would have a hard time getting my mind to focus on others, which I know is terrible.  I'm not saying that I don't care what happens to others, but I put a lot of my energy into doing what is best for my family and friends, and I had a hard time imagining helping others achieve health, happiness, and wholeness without ever having any interaction with them.  Then I performed the exercise, and realized that there isn't a person out there that I wouldn't help if they needed it.  I have never met a single one of you, but if there was a way that I could help you achieve wholeness in your life, I would do it in a heartbeat.  I think this practice helps us to see the kind of person that we really are.  We all live hectic lives, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't help someone in need.  Performing this exercise regularly would be a great reminder for me of the person that I really am.  Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget what is really important to us, and this exercise helps to brings that out.

The Integral Assessment helps for us to take a look at our lives, and determine the areas that we need to improve.  Let's face it, there is always some area we can improve on.  This assessment focuses on psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly aspects of our lives.  When assessing my life I realized my first area for improvement would be the psychospiritual aspect.  My main area of concern is emotional development.  I think the first area that should be focused on is ourselves.  We have learned if you don't truly love yourself, you can't love others.  I feel this is the reason for a lot of my insecurities, and poor judgement.  I haven't felt worthy of the love and attention that I receive, and therefore don't accept compliments or help very well.  I am really making improvements in this area, and after becoming more physically active, eating more nutritious foods, and focusing on improving my mental well-being I am feeling much less self conscious.  Keeping my emotions in check is a huge downfall for me.  I am going to focus on the subtle mind exercise and getting my mind to the unity consciousness state.  Once I can learn to process what is going on around me, and not act before thinking, I will be a much happier, healthier individual, mentally anyways.  I cannot tell you how much my life has changed just since beginning this area of study less than a year ago.  I truly believe I was pushed in this direction by a higher power so that I could see the problem areas in my life, and correct them before it was too late.  Regardless of whether or not I find the career I have been dreaming of with this degree, I believe that it has been worth it because of all of the positive lifestyle choices I have made.  I am a worthy of all of the great things I have in my life, and I have to remember that.