"The Forty Rules of Love"

For a couple of weeks now, I've been totally immersed in a book I've been reading called, as you may have guessed, "The Forty Rules of Love" by Elif Shafak. Now the point of this post, is not exactly just to talk about how great this book is. It's fiction, but it is partly the story of the famous Sufi poet Rumi and his closest companion.

I have found many gems of wisdom inside this book, but last night I read something that really made me think about the way I interact with others. There's always going to be people in my life that are not like me. People that have different interests, carry themselves differently, and have a different focus in their life. And sometimes, I'm not going to feel particularly close to these people. I may find some of the things they do or say frustrating, irritating or offensive. But, in saying that, I generally make an effort to try to just accept people the way they are.

Last night I read this paragraph and it really just clicked. An epiphany of sorts.

" This world is like a snowy mountain that echos your voice. Whatever you speak, good or evil, will somehow come back to you. Therefore, if there is someone who harbors ill thoughts about you, saying similarly bad things about him, will only make matters worse. You will be locked in a vicious circle of malevolent energy. Instead for forty days and nights say and think nice things about that person. Everything will be different at the en of forty days, because you will be different inside. "

So today is my first day. I have chosen to start with only one person, so that I can really focus my attention. And now that I've written this post, it will be easy to look back in forty days from now, and see what has become of this commitment.