I have a practice I engage often.  I ask myself to see other people, animals, plants, insects, fish, whatever life form I encounter, as someone or something I cherish.  As I walk to work each morning, I often spend my time on the street and then in Central Park imagining that each person, animal, tree, plant or other life form I see as a cherished brother or sister.  When I do this practice, I arrive at my office with a full heart and a tendency to assume that people I engage wish me well, rather than experiencing the hustle and bustle of New York City as an imposition, and other people as irritants.

What I’ve found, over time, is that when I hold everyone and everything around me as something I cherish, my point of view shifts.  I’m more able to feel generous toward others, and to feel that others are more inclined to be generous toward me.  One thing we know from psychology experiments in perception and beliefs is that the “filter” created by what we expect generates a powerful impact in our lives. 

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to engage a “filter” that sees everything and everyone around you as something or someone who is valuable and cherished by you.  While it’s inevitable that there will be someone or something in any given week that irritates or upsets you, notice what happens when you think of that experience as the exception, rather than the rule.  This doesn’t mean you have to overlook interactions with people or things that aren’t satisfying.  Instead, this experiment offers an opportunity to expand moments that support an experience of connection. 

As you play with this experiment, notice where you feel comfortable imagining others as cherished brothers and sisters, and where you feel uncomfortable holding this point of view.  Mixed feelings are an inevitable part of daily experience, so I invite you to notice whatever mixed feeling arise without judgment, without trying to push them away.  They become sources of information about where you find your comfort zone, and what pushes you beyond it.

As with all the experiments, allow yourself to play with this one with curiosity.  It offers yet one more opportunity to live consciously and to discover the beliefs and responses that trigger you into automatic reactions rather than conscious choices.