I agree. It can be challenging to not pay lipservice to wishing difficult people well. I make it a practice of praying for difficult people the minute I feel myself reacting to them. It does disempower their influence on my own wellbeing in the moment I feel stirred up. I can still disagree with them and take issue with their behaviours but I don't give them my power so easily.

It is another of those practices grounded in my beliefs that has a cumulative effect. It my take many times turning to prayer to dis-empower people I have difficulties with but again... baby steps and a commitment to practicing that which is best for my own wellness.

I can't tell you how many times I have walked out of my son's school praying for the principal because again and again she refuses to listen and gets in the way of my son's education.

I pray pretty much ceaselessly. If I hear a siren I pray for those that might be hurt, and those that will come to their aide. If I see someone speeding excessively I pray they will arrive at their destination safely. I pray every morning for the students and faculty at my son's school. When I am here I am praying for all the members and remain in a spirit of prayer while composing a post.

The more I meditate and the more I take myself into a state of mindlessness the more naturally is prayer always present in my thoughts. Even knowing how valuable prayer is in my life and to my overall wellness, when symptoms are acting up my prayers become increasingly about me with little consideration for others. Even knowing if I prayed for others it can in turn help me when symptoms are acting up it is hard to believe and hard to recognize it is the symptom and not me that changes me.

The metta phrases have a wonderful way of recognizing we are not alone in the world and we need all different kinds of people to teach us what we are here to learn. Particularly the hard lessons. Thus the reason we have difficulty with people, they are the once who have the most important lessons for us to learn. They may be our mirror or they may be our sandpaper, either way they have a purpose in our own life journey.

May all that we do, all that we say, all that we think be a blessing to us and all those who walk in and out of our lives. Whether for a reason, a season or a life time.

Blessings to all.