I did this awesome exercise today from the awesome book by Elliot Dacher:

 

“Close your eyes and let’s try this together. Rest into the ease and stillness of your

mind and body, releasing all mental activity. When quiet, ask yourself, “What aspect of

my life—psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly—is the source of difficulty

and suffering?” Focus on this one area. What line of development is most essential

for me at this time? What is my current level of development and what can I aim for?

This is the first aspect of assessment.” (2005, page 115)

Dacher says

 

This exercise was good! Anytime I can take a pause, and meditate to see outside of the box what I’m dealing with its good. I discovered that most of my problems come from human interaction, mostly at work. I’m only happy when things are done my way, and I also feel if I don’t control everything it won’t get done right. This has caused me to be angry all the time, and has led to lots of angry outburst and arguments. Soldiers didn’t want to talk to me, or work with me after a while. So I did the following to help myself:

1.      I closed my mind to work, in a place far away from the work environment, and pictured myself on a regular work day.

2.      I found that I was only happy when I was in control. I would micro manage and take over 15 people’s individual assignment. You see in the end I wanted all the praise, so I couldn’t let someone mess that up.

3.      Success! I was removed from my work area because of an injury, and my eyes were opened. Nobody was screaming; there were tons of teamwork, and more time off. The work was getting done without all the ugly anger.

4.      I have learned to help as need, or when asked; but allow others to shine in their work, and also other supervisors to take the blame when wrong.

5.      Number 1? The world does not revolve around me.

This was a life changing exercise, and I think I reduced more stress in a week, than compared to my whole life.