Sunday, June 28, 2009

BYBS: Spiritual Exercises

There are lots of things that I do that do not have an immediate reward. Some of them are recognizable like dieting and exercise. I change my diet, but my waistline does not immediately shrink. If I eat a pint of ice cream, I don't expect to see my weight increase by 5 pounds over night. But over time these things have a very definite effect: though my day to day weight may vary like a drunken sailor navigating an alley, the trend does go up or down.

This posting is about the same principal applied to a different area: the mental or spiritual. There are exercises that I do that have a long-term benefit, but I often times find them even harder to do than the physical ones. After all, you can't measure mood by standing on a scale and then use that info to graph your progress.

One of these exercises are my BYBS postings. Over time I have found that I lead a happier life when I regularly stop and think about the things I am grateful for. As a person who is at times overly focused on stuff that I don't like it is important for me to remember the things that I do like.

If you would care to share, comment on similar examples of mental or spiritual exercises that help you.

5 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

That's a cool observation. Poor ol' BYBS seems to have dropped off a bit. I wish it were otherwise. I learn and grow from others' words about your blessings.

Thanks for these.

CyberCelt said...

I surf the Internet. Usually the topic is travel, but it can turn up anything! There are quite a few sites that are virtual tours of places I will never be.

I have a wave machine that gives me the beach on demand. Of course, the real waves are better and you can see the light glinting off the wave tops.

I listen to binaural beats to relax or regenerate my psyche.

I also look forward to BYBS every week. Have a good one, my friend.

Tanis said...

I'll log on to WOW and see if anybody is around - normally, the people in our guild can cheer me up, even if I want to slaughter people in real life. Normally, I act like an asshole. It sometimes gets laughs.
I am also the recipient of a co-worker's "pay it forward" program - he says that he and his wife help people out, and all they ask in return is that when we're able to, that we extend kindness to people as well. And it's nothing you ask for, either. He just does nice things for people. I try to be kind to people. Sometimes it works. :)
Nothing makes a person feel better than cuddling with a cute pet, either. My dog knows exactly when I feel sad.. and she helps me by sitting on my lap and letting me pet her for hours.

PERBS said...

I would have stopped by last week but a dear friend died and I had trouble even posting. I am not officially doing BYB any longer but I still like to visit the friends I made while doing it. Thanks for continuing to visit my blog and to keep posting your blessings.

PERBS said...

I used to enjoy it myself but recently asked to be taken off the list. I don't belong to any memes now but I still like to visit friends I made while I did. I can count my blessings without writing them down and for now, that's the way I have to do it. You are one of them --Ü -- since you continue to stop by and leave a comment.