Today in the weekly meeting of Vivekananda Study Circle, IISc, we did this exercise. This is partly based on what was taught by Jayanthi Ma’am in her TA/Psychology/Group Therapy course. It can benefit a lot of people. If you are serious about the exercise and want to derive maximum benefit, do it without skipping and reading ahead.
Part 1
Write 1, 2 or 3 sentences as answers to each of these questions. Be genuine. Write what you really feel, and not what you are supposed to feel ideally. The answer should be from the heart and not from the head. It is what you feel, not what you think.
1. What should I have achieved before I die to consider my life as successful?
2. What should have happened during a day, to consider that day as a good day for me?
3. What do I fear most, that it should not happen in my life?
4. What was the worst thing that happened in my life and who was responsible for it?
5. What is my greatest achievement in life so far?
6. What quality in me am I most proud of (in a positive sense)?
7. What are the three best things that happened in my life?
8. Fill in the blanks: Life is __(in one to four words)__. I will __(in one to four words)__.
Scroll down for the next part after completing the above exercise.
Part 2
Fill in the name of your guardian angel (any deity, saint, Nature, etc.) and repeat this statement three times slowly, understanding and absorbing each word and its meaning.
I have a guardian angel in my life. ______________ is my guardian angel. Everything in my life happens by the will and grace of my guardian angel. Everything happened for my good. Everything will happen for my good. With my guardian angel always on my side, I can face my life with strength and peace, and learn from it.
Now, read each question and its answer, followed by repeating the “guardian angel paragraph” once after each answer.
Afterword
How did you feel the first time and the second time? Did you want to change any answer?
We feel bad about a few things in life. However, when we push ourselves to list down the lessons we learnt from them, the good things that have resulted from them, how they have made us better people, etc., we will surely find positive answers. These will help us to accept them and get over them. There are several good things in life too. When we force ourselves to think how they have been given to us and we should feel grateful for them, we can accept them with more humility and grace.