The first impression

It's commonly said that the first impression is the last. Turns out that this couldn't be more wrong. Here's why

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

It's commonly said that the first impression is the last.

While it's true that whenever we meet someone we imagine things and even make a preliminary analysis about them, the first impression certainly reflects the haste with which we judge others.

But can we, at the first moment, evaluate the character of others?

Indeed but caution is needed on this first impression as it may lead to false conclusions. For example, shy or reserved people can be considered unfriendly at first glance while mocking or light-hearted creatures may appear only cheerful, in superficial contact.

What is important is that before getting to know someone deeply, we avoid forming firm and irrevocable opinions about their character. Keep an open mind for a possible review of the initial impact that someone has on us.

Take your time before judging others

Sometimes we experience an influx of immediate and profound sympathy for a new friend. However, it's convenient to get to know them better before opening our life and hearts to them

In other occasions we may even feel an immediate dislike for others. In the same way, we must not close the door to understanding just based on a hunch. After controlling the first impulse, try to understand the essence of the other person before labeling them as good or bad.

Emotional Caution

We must learn to use reason in our social life. Neither too close, nor ice cold before getting to know better who arrives in our lives.

An because we often allow great intimacies to strangers who we immediately sympathized with, it's important to remind about emotional caution. Emotional caution does not mean being a bad or cold person. It's just a preventive protection against the world we live in, full of ignorance and violence.

Disappointments

And how to handle disappointments?

For example, we received guest in our house, told our secrets without any caution and then, we felt entitled to say that the new friend let us down. Turns out that people are not always what they appear to be.

Others are what they are, not what we think they should be. No one has an obligation to meet our expectations since the expectations are ours. We are the ones who created them, in our absence of discernment.

We are all fallible because we are human. When we say that someone has disappointed us, we must think that the responsibility for the disappointment is ours. It's us who created an illusion from the other person.

Educate our emotions

It is important that we educate our emotions so we don't expect more from others than they can give.

It is also necessary to know others well before qualifying them one way or another. Only when we perceive their defects and virtues will we be able to identify their intentions.

Final Thoughts

Perceiving the difficulties of others, and yet loving them is a sign of emotional and spiritual maturity. Let us therefore take care of the first impression that others make on us.

With time, discretion and discernment, we will discover the people with whom we have a real affinity. Knowing the other person well is the best we can do to love them without prejudice or unrealistic expectations.

Let us educate our emotions so that we are not driven by impulses.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on July 13, 2018.

See Also

• The Power of Love
• Weighted observation
• The most important bridge
• Bridge of Life
• A Thinking Power
• Divine Poem

Vibrating Bridge

How do you deal with the challenges and stresses of the modern life?

Photo by Andre Xavier on Unsplash

She returned from school, where she worked for many years. She was discouraged by the routine situation. The violence in the children's actions and words left her actionless, after so many attempts to resolve them.

Every day she worked hard doing her best. She guided and corrected their attitudes so that the children would become kinder to each other, so that they felt like family.  However, she saw that none of her efforts was effective.

Discouraged, she sat on the bench in the garden and cried. Her father, seeing her there, came over and stroked her hair in silence. With her beloved presence, she allowed herself to give more freedom to emotions. She hugged him and let the tears flow.

When she calmed down a little, he spoke calmly: "I don't know what your problem is, but we can establish a vibrating bridge to the sky, from where you will come calm and tranquility to solve what ails you." Remember what we have been taught: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will get it and what you will grant will be what you ask for."

She smiled slightly and, because she still felt a little tormented, she asked him to formulate the prayer for her, for her work and for the children at school. Right there, among the flowers, he prayed. She, following her words mentally, felt her heart calm and hope to be reborn.

Later, they went into the house, had tea and continued to talk. She found that she was now calmer and more confident, envisioning other possible solutions.

The mechanism of prayer

It is important to know the mechanism of prayer. Jesus, the sweet Rabbi of Galilee, used to walk away from the crowd in order to pray to the Father in silence.

An enlightened creature wrote: prayer is the emanation of well-directed thinking and rich in vibratory content, establishing the creature's exchange with the Creator. Therefore, thoughts driven by love and charged with positive energies can perform real miracles.

Prayer not only dilutes negative energies, it renews the moral forces of being, saturating it with higher vibrations that alter mental, emotional and organic landscapes.

The act of praying is an expression of humility towards life and an awakening of the conscience to understand the goals to which one must give oneself.

Jesus sought prayer as an effective resource to be linked to the Father, maintaining the exchange for the inspiration and courage that he was always clothed with. Through the constant practice of prayer, He left us an example that we must not abandon.

Final Thoughts

Through sincere prayer, we are in tune with the spheres of light, from which we draw the energies that provide emotional balance and inner peace, which allows us to better reason and act.

A sincere prayer opens the windows of the soul and expands our possibilities of inspiration.

Allow ourselves the exercise of prayer, in all situations of our life. Pray and let yourself be guided by the Celeste Pastor who will send you superior support in any circumstance through this vibrating bridge, called prayer.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on May 06, 2016.

See Also

• The Power of Love
• Weighted observation
• The most important bridge
• Bridge of Life
• A Thinking Power
• Divine Poem