Question: “hi i have a question 🙂 im currently reading “the power of now” and i must say its been one of the best tools of informing me how to live my life with so much joy, but i have a problem i cant seem to overcome. I babysit 5 of my nieces and nephews everyday, and they don’t know how to behave at all. and i try so hard to have patience but they don’t listen to me at all and they’re spoiled and cry a lot. its really hard for me to keep them under control. i constantly feel frustrated/angry. any advice?”
Ah. The Power of Now. Such an amazing book by an amazing author and spiritualist. I think if you read it 2 or 3 more times you’ll be able to answer your own question 🙂 It’s definitely NOT a book you only read once, no matter how “smart” you are or how much you think you “get it.”
In the meantime, those 5 devil-children are your best teacher. I will never have children, because I’m pretty sure I’d be doing a lot of spanking! Hah. I love kids as long as I can give them back! Patience is not something you can read about in a book and automatically practice with perfection the next day. It is literally a lifelong practice and challenge. I always tell people, if I didn’t have to drive, I would probably be enlightened! Because I have low tolerance for stupid drivers and my road rage sometimes beats my practice…
But that’s exactly what you’ll have to do. Practice. And meditate. Meditate on loving-kindness for your nieces and nephews. They might not be perfect little angels, but can you imagine your life without them? They might make you pull your hair out every once in a while, or maybe even often, but then you get the moments of pure joy on their faces and the contagious laughter they spread, and you forget about all the “bad” things they did or make you feel.
So when you meditate on loving-kindness, or just on them, you meditate on those feelings of joy and happiness. Because once those irate situations start happening, you can go back to those loving-kindness thoughts and aspirations to push away any negative thoughts or feelings. Or you can read up on some child psychology! Most kids (depending on their age, of course) don’t want to be treated like kids, so sometimes you just have to sit them down and be at their eye-level and tell them how you feel and that you wish they would behave a little so you can all have fun together. That’s what I did wish my cousins and it worked… Until they got a dog…
Practice. Nothing is going to change, for you or for them, overnight. But as long as you’re practicing and staying mindful, it will get better and your practice and patience will improve.
Smile and be well!