It Doesn't Get Easier, You Get Stronger

This exercise I found a bit more challenging, especially at first. I kept with it though. When I imagined the loving feeling I thought of my children. They are the people I love more than anything and make me feel like nothing else. Loving myself like that felt weird at first, but then it felt really good. I have  a friend that is going through a really tough time. Her son had a bone marrow transplant last year and he is not doing well. I really thought about breathing in her pain and sending her and her family health and happiness. This part reminded me of the movie "The Green Mile" when he breathes in the illness and he breathes it out. I imagined it almost the same way. I imagined breathing in the illness and sending out the love to my friend.
I do like this exercise, even though it is difficult. I want to keep trying and getting better at it. I think there are so many people that need that loving kindness and if we learn how to imagine it and send them positive messages we can learn to do it through our actions. Not only that, we can learn to love ourselves, I think the concept of "mental workout" is beyond awesome. I know first hand the benefits of working out. The mind is a muscle and working it has similar effects. The more you work it the stronger and larger it becomes. I used to deal blackjack. At first the simple act of adding to 21 was a little challenging. After a while, all I had to do was look at 10 cards and come up with the answer. I wasn't any wiser, but I had trained my mind to count quickly. Now, it is harder because my mind is out of shape  because I haven't dealt cards in years, but it is still faster than it was before. Once you train your mind there is no going back. When you train your mind you are better equipped to deal with stressful situations that may have negative impacts on your health.