Send love to everyone I come in contact with for 30 days

Frankly I have not been keeping this up very well. Some days I would remember to do it, some days I wouldn’t (but would usually realize later). One of the goals of this exercise is to practice responding to people with love rather than judgment, and I definitely am not there yet. Judgment or defensiveness is usually my first response, and then I send love when I realize I’m doing that. Not that I expect to change it in a few days, of course. Journaling about it here helps me keep up the practice, whereas normally I would lapse after a couple of weeks.

I picked a card out of my Doreen Virtue Archangel deck the other day, and asked what it is I need to know right now. The card I drew was called “Beloved”, and the description said something about how the more you send love out into the world, the more you receive in return. I thought, that’s what I’ve been practicing! I was mainly focused on experiencing more peace and love within myself rather than receiving more love, but there is that aspect, too.

So I’ve done this for three days so far, and the results have been here and there. I often forget to do it, unless I’m at the same place for a while (work, for example), then I’d remember to do it. Last night I had choir and completely forgot about sending love to the group, though I did ground the ground the room and send Reiki to support the rehearsal (it was the second to last one until our concert on May 30). I sent love afterwards when I remembered.

The most significant results I’ve had were with people who provoked some resistance or negative emotion in me. This morning there was a girl on the bus who had a voice that carried and really bugged me, because I don’t like not being able to ignore conversations I don’t want to hear. I sent love to her but was still mildly annoyed until the guy she was speaking to got off the bus. Then a new temp started in my department today (I’m also a temp there), and she was tall, blond, and beautiful (and was being seated next to me), so that totally set off my insecurities. When I realized I was feeling that way, I sent love to her, and that calmed me down. I also did this a couple of times yesterday with things I read on the Internet that triggered my insecurities and fears. I found that sending love to the things or people I fear/resist helps to dissipate my own fears.

As if I haven’t taken on enough self-improvement stuff, here’s one more. I got the idea from the intention circle I attended last week, but it’s something I’ve been hearing here and there, so I decided to really give it a go. In modern society we’re very used to constantly judging, labeling, and dismissing others, in effect sending out negative energy as we go about the day. In my spiritual groups, I have heard a few too many stories about how things just work out better when we send love to a difficult situation or difficult people. It increases our vibration as well as theirs. So I’ve decided to practice it for 30 days and change my habit of judging to accepting.

When I say “everyone I come into contact with”, I mean somebody I interact with in some way. Somebody I say good morning to, a cashier at the store, the bus driver, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, etc. I started out trying to do it with everyone I pass by on the street, but that just became overwhelming since I live in a city.

If I forget to send love when I’m interacting with the person, I’ll send it afterwards when I remember, or I might send it to an entire group at the same time (say when I go to choir rehearsal tomorrow night). More importantly, I want to send love to each person who bothers me, by which I mean anyone who triggers my judgment, defensiveness, anger, insecurity, etc. This is because the person who provoked that emotion in me reminded me of some hurt I experienced in the past. I’m taking responsibility by sending love to them and therefore to the part of me that felt hurt.

For the next 30 days I’ll write entries daily or as often as I can about what I experienced. I’ve had trouble with keeping up a regular practice before, so here’s hoping for perseverance.