This is an excerpt from one of my favorite books, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life by Deepak Chopra.
Higher purpose: I am here to serve. I am here to inspire. I am here to love. I am here to live my truth.
Communion: I will appreciate someone who doesn’t know that I feel that way. I will overlook the tension and be friendly to someone who has ignored me. I will express at least one feeling that was made me feel guilty or embarrassed.
Awareness: I will spend ten minutes observing instead of speaking. I will sit quietly by myself just to sense how my body feels. If someone irritates me, I will ask myself what I really feel beneath the anger—and I won’t stop paying attention until the anger is gone.
Acceptance: I will spend five minutes thinking about the best qualities of someone I really dislike. I will read about a group that I consider totally intolerant and try to see the world as they do.
Creativity: I will imagine five things I could do that my family would never expect— and then I will do at least one of them. I will outline a novel based on my life (every incident be true, but no one would ever guess that I am the hero.) I will invent something in my mind that the world desperately needs.
Being: I will spend half an hour in a peaceful place doing nothing except feeling what it is like to exist. I will lie outstretched on the grass and feel the earth languidly revolving under me. I will take in three breaths and let them out as gently as possible.
Efficiency: I will let at least two things out of my control and see what happens. I will gaze at a rose. I will lie down by the ocean or tape of the sea.
Bonding: When I catch myself looking away from someone, I will remember to look into the person’s eyes. I will bestow a loving gaze on someone I have taken for granted.
Giving: I will compliment someone for a quality that I know the individual values in him- or herself.
Immortality: I will write down five things I want my life to be remembered for.
You can find the book here.
