Interacting Mindfully With Difficult Colleagues

No one wants to suffer. We all seek to have a more balanced and harmonious life with ourselves, others, and our surroundings. One environment people tend to spend a significant time in is at their workplace. While there we often see posters or pictures or even coffee mug slogans from people who proclaim this harmonious desire yet their daily actions suggest quite the opposite.

Like any illness, when someone is suffering, symptoms present themselves in a manor of ways. Since we often spend a significant amount of time in a work environment one may experience firsthand some of these symptoms that may, if not addressed with compassion and empathy, will affect office dynamics in a negative way. 

People will, on occasion, have a 'bad day' which may impact interactions temporarily. But what about the the employee who is continually difficult not only in meetings but even around the watercooler?

One, no matter how intimate they are with another, will never truly know what another is thinking or feeling. We will never know what is going on is someone else's homelife. Therefor it is always important to treat everyone we encounter with kindness.

Difficult behavior often presents itself as rudeness, arrogance, the 'one upper', bluntness, pettiness, anger, sarcastic, short temperedness, and even impatient towards others. There are certainly many root causes, too many to include here but all have the same solution.

Anger is not cured with anger. Rudeness is not remedied with rudeness. Impatience is not treated with impatience. All of these harmful conditions may simply be treated with lovingkindness.

We would never treat an illness with another type of illness, simply put one does not treat pneumonia with the flu virus. Continuing the suffering of another living being does not promote healing for that being.

When we experience hurt from our difficult colleague our action could be one of embracing warmth. Let them know that you 'see' them and that you 'hear' them. You are not required to agree or to disagree with their statement but just the simple acknowledgment of the statement is enough. Let them know that you are open to warmly and with mindful intent listen to their concerns. Sit with them at lunch. Perhaps even buy a raffle ticket or magazine subscription that supports their child's activities. Offer them praise when a job is well done, no matter how small the job was. 

As with all changes, they typically do not occur overnight. Recall your mindfulness journey as an example. When we simply listen to and acknowledge another being for their worth, their presence, and their effort, new seeds will begin to root and eventually blossom given the proper nurturing environment. You have the opportunity to be the warm sunshine, the thirst quenching water, or the fertile soil, or yes, possibly all three to this suffering being.

We all have something to teach and we all have something to learn from someone else. And these gifts may never be truly realized if kept sequestered under the vail of suffering. 

And with that my friends I wish you all peace and ease,

Vladimir

You are warmly invited to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter for more way to improve your mindfulness practice and wellbeing.

Blue Lotus Meditation and Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.

Website and monthly newsletter: www.bluelotusmeditation.us

For guided meditations and Dharma talks, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Generosity, Charity, and Mindfulness

One of the Buddhas quotes on generosity states that 'Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something. And we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given' describes all of the benefits that this action offers.

Before every action we do, no matter how small or large, there is a thought. And this though is the inception of what comes next, the action. And as with all thought what we water is what begins to bloom.

When we water this thought, the upcoming generous action for example, we begin to allow our minds to picture the joyful reaction of the recipient. 

We are allowing ourselves to be vulnerable for a moment. We allow ourselves to show another human being kindness and recognition for who they are. 

And it is with these good and kind thoughts that we develop ourselves into more compassionate human beings. 

Family members and others with whom we often interact are most often the beneficiaries of these kind acts but how often do we expand our generosity to others that we may never even know their first names?

Probably not as much as we would like. 

So let me ask this question: what's stopping you?

Maybe you don't feel your generosity will truly help the other person.

Maybe you feel you won't get the 'thank you' you deserve.

Perhaps you even feel that other's are less deserving or not deserving at all. 

Suppose I ask you to consider this, that the inception of generosity is just as rewarding as the giving and the remembering that we gave. Wouldn't that be enough to show more generosity to others? 

Perhaps the good deed only isn't the deed itself but the very sincere thought of the deed.

But when we actually do the giving there is a benefit we often overlook, empathy. Why empathy? It's empathy because we recognize the suffering in others, even if we don't see or know them personally. 

Perhaps you give to a local orphanage or hospital. You probably don't know any of the children or patience in the hospital but you give to help ease their suffering. And that is empathy.

And each time we give we bring up the fond memories of the previous time we gave which continue to promote the empathy and compassion within.

Compassion and empathy are essential to mindfulness. So as we give generously to others to help ease their suffering we too are learning to ease our own suffering as well.

And with that my friends I wish you all peace and ease,

Vladimir

You are warmly invited to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter for more way to improve your mindfulness practice and wellbeing.

Blue Lotus Meditation and Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.

Website and monthly newsletter: www.bluelotusmeditation.us

For guided meditations and Dharma talks, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Mindfulness, Minimalism, and Anxiety

How often do you approach your closet and open it only to find clothing bunched together. Maybe some hangars are doubled up with a shirt or jeans. Your favorite shirt, you know the one from your local high-end department store, the one you couldn't live without, still displaying the tags on it from January 2020. 

Shoes, unmated, are on the floor in a scaled version of Mt. Everest. Belts and scarves are strewn here and there in what only may be described as a multicolored mound of spaghetti.

After you sort through everything and find an appropriate outfit you venture to the kitchen to make breakfast before work. Your silverware drawer has enough utensils, of differing shapes and sizes of course, to serve a small army. Kitchen gadgetry, many that have not seen the light of day since the iPhone 8, line your kitchen counter top.

All of these 'things' are a sign of over commercialization in a society that values and determines a persons worth by how much and how many things one owns. The accumulation of things eventually leads to disorganization of thoughts and actions which in-turn leads to anxiety, most of which was brought upon by the fear of being undervalued.

So how may we mindfully embrace minimalism to reduce unnecessary stress and anxiety?

When we understand the positive results of actually owning less, the very opposite of what many societies value, we begin to offer ourselves a different perspective. And this new, or rediscovered, perspective places a higher value on gratitude for what is truly necessary for a balanced and fulfilling life. 

Let's consider for a moment the earlier example of a drawer full of silverware. 

When we have too much silverware we tend to also have an automatic dishwasher. As a result, we use a utensil once and put it into the dishwasher. And with each opening of the dishwasher we witness it getting fuller and more disorganized. We do this until the dishwasher is full or we run out of utensils. 

By then the dishwasher is cluttered and we know we have to empty it once the cleaning cycle is over. This too is a source of stress and anxiety because we know what's in store for us.

But suppose as a family of four we were to only allow ourselves enough silverware for seven people. It's fine to have some extras for cooking or the occasional guest. And also suppose instead of a dishwasher we hand washed each item. When we hand wash we are able to use mindfulness with each item. 

In other words we can offer gratitude to the spoon, fork, or knife for helping in the important act of nourishing our bodies. We may bring mindful attention to the amount of dish soap we use, or the fragrance of the dish soap, the feel of the sponge as we clean off the utensil, or even how the water temperature feels on our skin.

This connection is what mindfulness entails, being aware in the present moment. 

And with that my friends I wish you all peace and ease,

Vladimir

You are warmly invited to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter for more way to improve your mindfulness practice and wellbeing.

Blue Lotus Meditation and Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.

Website and monthly newsletter: www.bluelotusmeditation.us

For guided meditations and Dharma talks, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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