Today is about heightening our awareness to what our true needs are and searching for sources in the moment to fulfill our needs.
Day 12 – Finding Out What You Really Need
CENTERING THOUGHT
I connect to fulfill my true needs.
SANSKRIT MANTRA
Sharavana Namah (My awareness is aligned with the creative power of the universe.)
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
We are used to listing our needs based on the distorted perspective of the ego. When we learn to live from the level of our true self, we discover that our real need is to open up to the growth opportunities that are in the present moment.
Today’s meditation connects us to our essential nature, pure awareness, giving us the platform on which we can fulfill this core need of living fully in the now.
Journal Reflection Questions:
1. Reflecting on what you really need from your relationships, write down your three most important needs, such as to be loved, to be understood, to be intimate, to feel supported, to reach agreement, to be at peace, to not be criticized, to be appreciated, to share creativity, etc. Describe how you feel when these needs are met. How do you know when they are not being met?
2. With a good sense of what you need, bring to mind the key relationships in your life, including family, friends, and co-workers. Write down which ones are realistic candidates for helping you fill a particular need. Be thoughtful and consider one need at a time. When you are finished, journal about a few ways you can ask for your need to be fulfilled by each person.
3. Now do the opposite. Take the needs you have written down and match them with the people who realistically will never fulfill them. This is not about blame. Be thoughtful and consider that you can’t ask someone for what they don’t have to give. Now jot down some of the reasons why they are not able to fill those needs, so you have a clear understanding of the situation. Once you see where each person stands, forgive and release each person from the thing you won’t ask from them again, while at the same time knowing they can be asked to fulfill other needs. Nobody can be everything to you. Knowing this, you can be at peace.
4. Reflect further on your experience today.
“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” – Maya Angelou