Objective: Increase the amount of compassion in the world.

Expected Results: A personal sense of peace.

Instructions: This exercise can be done anywhere that people congregate (airports, mals, parks, beaches, etc.). It should be done on strangers, unobtrusively, from some distance. Try to do all five steps on the same person.

1. With attention on the person, repeat to yourself:
   

   “Just like me, this person is seeking some happiness for his/her life.”

2. With attention on the person, repeat to yourself:
   

   “Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life.”

3. With attention on the person, repeat to yourself:
   
   

   “Just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair.”

4. With attention on the person, repeat to yourself:
   

   “Just like me, this person is seeking to fulfill his/her needs.”

5. With attention on the person, repeat to yourself:
   

   “Just like me, this person is learning about life.”

Variations:

1. To be done by couples and family members to increase understanding of each other.
2. To be done on old enemies and antagonists still present in your memories.
3. To be done on other life forms.

—————-
This is one of thirty exercises that can be found in Resurfacing: Techniques for Exploring Consciousness by Harry Palmer.

In his book The Power of Intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer defines intention as a force in the universe that allows the act of creation to take place. The book explores intention, not as something you do, but as an energy you’re a part of. In addition, Dr. Dyer provides an intention guide with specific ways to apply the co-creating principles into your daily life.

Some important points about this intention:

• What you need in the way of the right people showing up will appear for you only when you’re ready and willing to receive them. They’re there right now and always have been. The questions to ask yourself are: Am I ready? Am I willing? How much am I willing to have it?
• Give forth what you want to attract. Again and again in my practice I have seen that one of the simplest ways to get what you want from others is to give that thing to others. With the giving, a recipricol flow opens up, even if it not directly from the individual you gave it to.
• You are already connected to those you want in your life, so act like it! Begin to change your inner dialogue to reflect this awareness. Rather than saying I wish this person would show up because I need to get out of this rut, activate a thought that reflects your connection, such as I know the right person will be arriving in divine order at precisely the perfect time.

A few ways Dr. Dyer suggests for attracting ideal people and divine relationships into your life.

• Move away from hoping, wishing, praying and begging for the right person or people to show up in your life.
• Practice being the kind of person you wish to attract. If you want to be loved unconditionally, practice loving unconditionally.
• Look upon everyone who has ever played any role in your life as having been sent to you for your benefit. Everything and everyone in your personal history had to be there when they were. Open yourself open to being grateful for the role they played in making you the person you are, the person you like being. It is possible to be grateful for painful experiences when you realize how they made you stronger, better, more compassionate, etc. today.

In his book, Everyday Enlightenment, Dan Millman outlines his twelve gateways to personal growth. Here is Gateway #11:

Love is life’s great secret. It transcends fear and isolation, guiding you beyond the shallows of sentiment, to the shores of boundless being. Love endures not from words or feelings alone, but from actions that carry you beyond the interests of separate self, beyond reason or motive, to embrace all people, things, and circumstances. Loving-kindness begins in little ways, in moments of insight and humility, in your soul’s longing for love’s communion, which waits just on the other side of your heart’s doorway. You are not here to contact your higher self; you are here to BECOME it.

No wish is too large, no hero is too small. Wish Upon A Hero is an online community of people helping people.

Wish Upon A Hero is a unique venue for any individual, organization, or company looking to make a difference in someone’s life, or the lives of countless people. Heroes come in all ages and from all walks of life. All of us, from our nation’s most powerful corporations to individual philanthropists, and those with limited financial means, can be someone’s hero.

What if there were a simple way to provide students with the books, technology, and supplies that they need to learn?
What if people from all walks of life could connect directly with public schools, learn about specific classroom needs, and choose how to help?

DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

The Penny Harvest shows young people they have the ability to make the world a better place by introducing them to the power of philanthropy and service during their formative years.

The Common Cents Penny Harvest grew from one child’s desire to feed the homeless, and for the past 17 years, children between the ages of four and 14 have been converting their natural compassion for others into action by collecting pennies and turning those pennies into grants for community organizations – $6.8 million in grants donated by children since 1991!

I was recently talking to a client who is interested in developing a new relationship. He was telling me about a date he had with a widow who later told him she wasn’t ready for an intimate relationship.

Since he’s actively searching for someone and at a point in his life when he’s ready to be in a commited relationship, he told me that he wasn’t going to pursue a friendship with this woman.

While I understand his motivation for not wanting to ‘waste’ time, I suggested he make plans to have lunch with her again, as he would if she were a male friend — just lunch, great conversation (which he told me he’d enjoyed) and no expectations.

While I think it’s always good to have a nice-sized circle of my friends, my reasoning was in support of his goals. The reality is, for men, that the men you know don’t generally know as many women as the women you know do. Therefore, if you want a relationship with a woman, hang out with women you enjoy spending time with and start meeting her friends.

Obviously, the reverse is true for women.

Hope you’ll take this advice to heart. Let me know how it works for you!