And can nursing change the world…?

I have to say that somewhere in my heart, I hold the aspiration to “change the world.” Not in a Gandhi or Mother Theresa kind of way; those individuals are as rare as stars in the daylight. I’m thinking more about making a small contribution to the world, something that can make a difference to a few people who can then in turn, bring benefit to others.

As a nurse, it’s easy to get caught up in the “caring” aspect of nursing while forgetting that every time you care for someone from a “meditative” and compassionate state of mind, you’re helping to change the world…one person at a time. And as a meditator, you know how easily you can get caught up in the “practice” and forget that meditation is really about being more present in life. Being present in life is the magic of meditation, and being present in life is also how you can change the world.

In the free ebook that I offer on this site, Can Meditation Change the Way that You View Your World?, I assert that by changing your mind, you actually can change the world. Through changing how you work with your thoughts, feelings and perceptions, all results of learning to meditate, your view of the world changes.

So, if you can change how you view the world, and you work within the world of nursing, then through meditation can you change the world of nursing? And through changing the world of nursing, can you also change the world? That’s a big stretch, isn’t it? Nope!

Do you practice meditation? If so, then you may have experienced some of this “changing your mind” through your practice. Maybe the changes are subtle, maybe they’re not profound. But in small ways, as you begin to meditate, you’ll find that the way that you look at your thoughts, your feelings and your emotions changes. At work, this can mean that when you’re taking care of someone, your thoughts don’t drift onto what you need to do next. At home, this may mean that when you’re taking leisure time or cooking your favorite meal, you’re really present, enjoying every moment of it.

It’s in these brief moments, when you find yourself more present, that you’re changing how you view the world. Maybe you find that you’re more kind to someone who’s rude to you in the supermarket or in traffic. Or maybe you find that you’re more patient with your spouse, friends or children. These subtle ways that you change also help others to change too because when you’re more patient with others, they may be more patient with you too. So…isn’t that changing the world? Isn’t helping others to be more positive a way of bringing change to the world?

Think about this the next time that you decide that meditation takes too much time, or that working with your mind is too frustrating. Think about how you can help others simply in how you are, in who you are. It’s amazing because once you start to do this, you’ll begin to see unlimited opportunities to help others simply by being more present. That’s change that matters!

Speaking of helping to change the world, when I think about how I can help you, the readers of this blog, while also helping my profession of nursing, I think that there’s nothing better that I can offer you than to provide you with exceptional content about the art and science of meditation and compassion. On that subject, I participated in a radio-interview with RN.FM  that I’d like to share with you. It’s about meditation, compassion, nursing and…being an entrepreneur! That’s right, it’s also on how to free your time as well as your mind. Check this out:

The topic of the interview is based on what I always discuss, how meditation and a compassionate presence can change the world…even if that world is only your world, or the world of nursing, or the world of creating a business.

You may not be a nurse, or you may not be a business owner, but I still think that the program might have some value to you. Even though the topics may include how many hours a day I work as a self-employed writer/nurse, or what it was like to start my own business, it’s all based on the foundation of mediation and compassion, basically what I try to do in my daily life.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

For more information on how to meditate, please see Related Stuff (below). Also, please download the free ebook, Can Meditation Change the Way that You View Your World?, for help with getting started in you meditation practice, and download the ebook, How to Work with the Four Distractions to Meditation to learn how to deal with some of the obstacles to meditation.

As always, please feel free to share your comments. And, as always, please feel free to contact me if you’d like to see additional content or other discussions on this site.