A New Exercise For Me

I have mentioned the quote "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change" (Dr. Wayne Dyer) in one of my earliest posts and recently my dad also referred to this quote on his blog. I must say, though, that as many times as I have heard it and read it, I've never actually worked with it. So, I decided to try it out as I find I am faced with many situations that I need to respond to differently. The current response keeps me up at night, keeps me angry and very, very stuck.
The best way for me to absorb anything is to write it down. All through my masters degree, I learned my material by writing and re-writing the information. Time-consuming but it worked for me.
A couple mornings ago, I grabbed my notepad and pen from my night table and, barely even sitting up, I tried this new exercise.

THE WAY I SEE IT NOW: ___(insert name here)_____ "owes" me attention and love because I am a deserving person and because they are a blood relation.

HOW THIS AFFECTS ME: Well, (insert name here) does not give me attention and love the way I think they should so now I am inherently "losing" something.

NEW WAY OF SEEING IT: Although we are related because of genetics, we don't owe each other anything. I am a deserving person and I am loved and provided for by the Universe. I pray that the Universe is being just as good to _________. I will count my blessings for the love I receive.

HOW THIS AFFECTS ME: It's freaking liberating! I am not losing out on anything and when it's written down, I see how almost ridiculous it is to think that someone "owes" me anything, especially for the reason of being a "blood relation". It also puts me in a peaceful space of prayer and remembrance of the Creator because I am looking at all I have instead of what I once thought I didn't have. And maybe, just maybe, the good vibes I am sending out through my prayer for ______'s happiness, will positively impact them in some way. Now, that's way more productive than tossing and turning at night, stewing over what someone did or didn't do.

A work in progress, though. My goodness, it did take some energy to come up with this, but it will take way more energy to solidify it and truly make it my belief. It takes a little bit of work, you know, to change the chemistry of your cells!
If you try this out, or have already done this before, please share if you'd like. I think the more things like this that we share, the more likely we are to break down those barriers of feeling embarrassed or guilty or like we are less than perfect if we admit to feeling negative. And that's half the battle!
Thanks for reading...