August 31

  

Today's Quotation:

To set us on a clear path, it is important to communicate well, at least
with ourselves.  To know what we want, to know what we mean, and
to learn to express ourselves clearly, with as little confusion as possible.
If you are confused about yourself, you can expect to be misunderstood
by those around you.  You have to set your mind straight, and that is
a task that no one else can undertake for you.

Rosemary Altea

Today's Meditation:

Communication is a skill that few of us have developed strongly.  We tend to believe that because we know what we're trying to get across, others will understand also--even though we often aren't completely sure just what we want to communicate.  And when we're communicating with ourselves, it's especially important that we do so clearly and precisely.

Have you ever talked to someone who didn't know what he or she wanted to do in a given situation?  No matter how much probing or questioning we do, they still can't tell us what they want or why they want it.  Usually, this comes about because they haven't taken the time or made the effort to be clear with themselves about their wants and needs.  They haven't taken the time to ask themselves just what they want in life, just what they want to accomplish, or just what they want to avoid.  Their decisions become more difficult because they've never clarified the information that we need to have in order to make decisions in the first place.

All of us know from experience that communication takes effort.  We also know just how easy it is to communicate poorly, and we've seen the results of miscommunication in our lives and in the lives of others.  But how much effort do we make to communicate with ourselves?  How much do we work at making sure that the communication is effective and accurate?

The time and effort that we spend making sure that we're clear about things that we need to be clear on can bring about some of the most important changes in our lives and can affect us and everyone around us in very positive ways, day after day, year after year. 

Questions to ponder:

1.  How aware are you of the ways that you communicate with yourself?
How aware are you of the content of that communication?

2.  What can you do to improve communication with yourself?

3.  How important is it to be sure that you're communicating
effectively with the other people in your life?
For further thought:

Treating ourselves as a best friend is an important factor in the quality
of our current living and will be crucial in our last years.  It’s the only way
we can gain an intimate knowledge of who we are and what we need.
Being familiar with – and able to articulate – our wants and needs gives us
some control of our lives, and is absolutely essential when we are old
and may have to rely on others to do what we can no longer do for ourselves.

Sallirae Henderson
   
   
  

  

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