The suggestions below are things that you may choose to do as a part of your program of improvement. Daily GR Program Schedule (suggestions only). For those living and working with others of like- mind. (for your convenience we’ve created a daily checklist you can copy. (See page 76)
1. Wake up & write down dreams (pg.19)
2. Do morning affirmations and read them where you have posted them (pg.33)
3. If you are living with other people who want to help you with your GR program, have a brief morning meeting, and ask them to help you by pointing things out to you. (pg.22)
4. Sometime during lunchtime, do your personal affirmation(s), OR:
At __minute intervals throughout the day, stop whatever you are doing and thinking, and mentally check yourself to see if you are directing your thoughts to achieving your goal of the week and living up to your ideal. After that, silently say to yourself, your chosen affirmation of the day/week. Use a portable alarm clock, or the MotivAider (special silent vibrating timer) to help with this. (pg.57)
5. (Afternoon or after work?) Meditation/Prayer/Affirmation Recording. 6. (Evening?) Have a meeting with other GRO people if possible.
7. If you have time, read enlightening literature, listen to inspiring music or watch an uplifting movie, etc. 8. Log the day in your Journal. How did you do at living up to your ideal? What good did you do? What could have been done better? Did you handle a situation or stress positively or more positively than previously? Were you feeling love all day? Re-live the day in your mind, correcting anything that went wrong.
9. (Going to sleep) Pre-sleep affirmations (pg. 33)
SUMMARY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS OF THE BOOK
1. Selfishness is the root of all our problems, hence un-selfishness is the solution. 2. You can only change yourself.
3. Ask yourself, “What would So and So do?” (Someone you consider to be a great spiritual leader- Jesus, Buddha, etc.)
4. Communication is of paramount importance. 5. Tolerance is good.
6. Nobody’s perfect.
7. Continually reminding yourself of what is really important to you in life will help you live your life more constructively and fully.
8. Live and conduct yourself as if this is your last day of life.
Doing all these things to help you apply the Golden Rule in your life, will take some time. If that is a problem, you just need to ask yourself a couple of questions. What’s it worth to you? What are you doing with the rest of your time?
Many people complain that they can’t possibly spend that much time doing it. They say they have jobs, and/or families, and they have to make a living and survive in the world, unlike having the luxury of being in a monastery. So let’s look at the realities of that.
If you truly absolutely don’t have the time to do the full schedule as presented here, that’s OK. But if you have a constructive, positive attitude towards it, then you can create an alternative schedule. ANYthing is better than nothing. And maybe there are ways to make extra time that you haven’t thought about yet. We’ll get back to that in a moment, but first, I should dispel some misconceptions about “the luxury” of being in a monastery.
I can’t speak for all monasteries, but I don’t know of any “free ride” or “easy living” ones that just let you sit on your butt all day. In ours, I worked the equivalent of two full-time “outside world”, “real world”, “real life” type of jobs, PLUS did 8 hours of spiritual work. I got very little sleep, and at that, it wasn’t daily sleep. But that’s how important it was to me. Now if it’s not as much of a priority in your life, or you really can’t make the time, that’s fine. Just be honest about it, and don’t be angry or envious of others for having or making the time.
Most people just don’t prioritize and realize how much they can do if they really, really want to, and what they can skip in their normal routines. So let’s look at and consider a few ideas.
First and most obvious is, do you really need as much sleep as you take? We aren’t suggesting you go without what you need by any means. Just think about whether or not you take more than you need. Next, think about other fruitless time you might be spending that might be able to go. The average person could do the entire schedule just by cutting out TV alone. If you really put your mind to it, you’ll come up with your own ideas for how to re-arrange what you spend your time on, and how to save time on what you
must do. Here is a list of just a few areas you might be able to streamline or eliminate to make time for
higher priorities (obviously they don’t apply to everyone): TV
Movies Eating Out Sports
“Hanging out”/or “shooting the breeze” on the phone or email.
Meals - can they be more simple for less cooking/cleaning time? Can someone else prepare your meals so you have more time? Could you do more “crock pot” meals of soups/rice, or make large bags of pre-made salads, etc.?
Parties
Reading - do you read books/magazines that don’t help improve your life or are otherwise unnecessary? Shopping - like carpools, shopping can sometimes be shared/turns taken. Many cities even have on-line internet shopping and delivery available now.
Entertainment
Then if that isn’t enough, just customize a schedule, and do what you can. Remember, this is all up to you, we aren’t trying to influence you to change the above things in your life, just giving ideas for those who actually WANT to make working on the Golden Rule a higher priority. But once you decide what you can do, and make a schedule, remember that commitment to your own plan, and consistency, are vital.