Back in January, I promised myself that I would go to a meeting about “recharging and dealing with burnout” after work. When the night finally came, it was 4 degrees outside, and I decided that I’d go at the last minute.

And I’m so glad I did.

The instructor taught us the Loving-Kindness Meditation.

We closed our eyes and for about 2 minutes kept focusing on this mediation:

May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I be peaceful
May I live with ease

Seems pretty easy, right?

I’ve been practicing the meditation before I get out of bed in the morning. I focus on the positive thoughts, and the instructor was right—over time, it does make a difference in my mood and how I go about my day.

After you get this part of the meditation down, you then move on to the next level. Instead of saying the words to yourself, you think of someone you don’t like (or having problems with) and say the mantra them.

May they be happy
May they be healthy
May they be peaceful
May they live with ease

What?

You heard me right.

Now, this is a lot harder than I had ever thought.

Last Sunday, I went on my long run and thought of a person who had caused me some hurt lately. As soon as I thought the first line, my brain revoluted and gave me a big fat, “NO!”

One minute I was running, and the next I was trying to convince myself to say the mantra for that person that I didn’t get along with very well.

I had to wrestle with my thoughts and think of them.

In Christianity, Jesus taught to turn the other cheek to your enemy. I always found that to be hard to do because my first reaction is to go into defensive mode.

I need to keep working on the second level of the Loving-Kindness meditation. I keep failing at it because there’s an emotional struggle within me. I’m trying really hard to get over my feelings and send good wishes to people that I don’t get along with, but it’s not easy. I’m being honest because I’ve found the first level of meditation to be like a healing salve on my tired body and mind. It’s been a great help.

But the second level, well, I’ll need more time for that.

And the third level is to think of the world:

May everyone be happy
May everyone be healthy
May everyone be peaceful
May everyone live with ease

I find this one to be easier than the second level because it’s a bit more distant. “Everyone” could be anyone. But if you think about it, this would mean that I wish that a murderer be happy, healthy, peaceful, and live with ease. That doesn’t sit well with me yet. I think I need more time to be enlightened because I still resist this one.

The funny thing is that our instructor told us that it took about 24 months for her to get out of level 1 to the next level. Now I understand why.

Letting go and sending positivity to others makes sense because it frees us from our hangups and our grudges. Is it easy, hell no!

If you’re looking for a new meditation, I recommend giving Loving-Kindness a try.

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.