Favorite CL Assignments
I asked readers of the CL News to send me their favorite CL assignments to be posted on constructiveliving2.weebly.com and on the CL News. Here are the first ones that came in:
1) Letting another driver, or a person go first, (Naikan-like).
2) Breaking a large task into parts, (Morita-like).
3) Saying thank you in different ways, (Naikan-like).
4) Picking up trash in my neighborhood, (Naikan-like).
5) Trying to keep my word. (Morita-like).
6) Reminding my chemistry students that their anxiety before a test is a result of them wanting to do well and then telling them what specific areas to study and checking that they have done their homework. In other words, trying to focus them on things they can do rather that telling them not to feel anxious.
1) Write my own academic journal. I modified it to submitting short pieces to the CL newsletter.
2) Getting under arguments with my wife to see that we can both be right.
3) Write CL stories for children.
4) Remember my special CL life question.
5) Write a booklet of CL activities.
Each morning I review the previous day by writing 20 things for which I am thankful. At the end of each month I sit in a sunbeam and read the lists for the entire month aloud.
My favorite CL exercise is writing one's own obituary, epitaph and eulogy. I first did this exercise during my CL certification training. At the time, I appreciated the reflection that this exercise provided. I considered what I had done in my life up until that point and what I wished to accomplish in the future. It clarified my purpose. As I began my working life as a therapist, I returned over and over to this purpose to make choices that were consistent with it.I found (surprisingly) that death seemed a very useful, inevitable, natural part of life. This observation has proven very helpful for me in being with the dying, most recently with my sister-in-law, Marianne, who died on November 16. As I have aged, I have come to appreciate the action aspect of this exercise. If I am feeling lazy this exercise is really effective at prompting the "Hmm, what needs doing?" question and subsequent action. These days I spend more time doing tasks like writing a will and revising financial planning so that I won't cause too much trouble when I die. Naikan would suggest that causing some trouble is inevitable. I am hoping to keep my eyes wide open as long as I can so I don't miss wonders like the rainbow that arched over the street when I was walking the dog yesterday.
Doing Naikan at Senkobo in Japan
I asked readers of the CL News to send me their favorite CL assignments to be posted on constructiveliving2.weebly.com and on the CL News. Here are the first ones that came in:
1) Letting another driver, or a person go first, (Naikan-like).
2) Breaking a large task into parts, (Morita-like).
3) Saying thank you in different ways, (Naikan-like).
4) Picking up trash in my neighborhood, (Naikan-like).
5) Trying to keep my word. (Morita-like).
6) Reminding my chemistry students that their anxiety before a test is a result of them wanting to do well and then telling them what specific areas to study and checking that they have done their homework. In other words, trying to focus them on things they can do rather that telling them not to feel anxious.
1) Write my own academic journal. I modified it to submitting short pieces to the CL newsletter.
2) Getting under arguments with my wife to see that we can both be right.
3) Write CL stories for children.
4) Remember my special CL life question.
5) Write a booklet of CL activities.
Each morning I review the previous day by writing 20 things for which I am thankful. At the end of each month I sit in a sunbeam and read the lists for the entire month aloud.
My favorite CL exercise is writing one's own obituary, epitaph and eulogy. I first did this exercise during my CL certification training. At the time, I appreciated the reflection that this exercise provided. I considered what I had done in my life up until that point and what I wished to accomplish in the future. It clarified my purpose. As I began my working life as a therapist, I returned over and over to this purpose to make choices that were consistent with it.I found (surprisingly) that death seemed a very useful, inevitable, natural part of life. This observation has proven very helpful for me in being with the dying, most recently with my sister-in-law, Marianne, who died on November 16. As I have aged, I have come to appreciate the action aspect of this exercise. If I am feeling lazy this exercise is really effective at prompting the "Hmm, what needs doing?" question and subsequent action. These days I spend more time doing tasks like writing a will and revising financial planning so that I won't cause too much trouble when I die. Naikan would suggest that causing some trouble is inevitable. I am hoping to keep my eyes wide open as long as I can so I don't miss wonders like the rainbow that arched over the street when I was walking the dog yesterday.
Doing Naikan at Senkobo in Japan