Hello
Everyone!
I
hope you are all experiencing some sort of joy, relief, awareness or some other
sort of wonderful thing from this course.
It could not have come at a better time in my life, a time where I am
beginning to feel burned out with school as well as with nursing. I have been in school since 2008 and with almost
two more years to go until my Master’s Degree, school is becoming both tiresome, boring and a burden. This course has helped me with renewed faith
in myself and the world when it comes to Loving and Kindness. It is also taught me that this journey I am
on is an Intentional journey and I
need to stop whining and get on with life.
The
practice of the Universal Loving Kindness was remarkable. It gave me ten, calm minutes, to project
Loving Kindness to the world. It gave me
ten solid minutes of practicing and projecting Loving Kindness to the Universe.
(Actually with my OCD, the phrase has been going on, and on, and on, in my head
all day). I have always been told by a
friend of mine to be careful what I put out into the universe as it may come
back to me. This is certainly something
that I hope comes back to me as I need some relief from suffering, in addition
to some health, happiness and wholeness (Dacher, 2006). Just imagine what it
would be like if the entire world, yes, the entire world would stop for ten
minutes and repeat this exercise. I
imagine something akin to a miracle would happen in the world. I surly know we could all use one of those
about now.
The
act of the Integral Assessment (Dacher, 2006) was not as easy to perform as it caused me to
take a long hard look at myself and I do not like to do that. I am not yet happy enough with myself to
examine myself for too long of a period without distress. One
of the passages from the book really hit a nerve with me today as far as the
truth of it. The text stated. “A parent
without an inner life grows a child without an inner life. A parent without an
inner connection grows a child without an inner connection.” (Dacher,
2006). Nothing truer was ever
stated. My parents did not give me the
tools to be a complete person who could examine and appreciate my inner self
because they did not know how. Learning to appreciate and inner life and inner connection is hard at my age. It's like learning how to walk all over again. It is hard. I wonder if I have
time to learn before I pass on into the cosmos.
From examining myself using the principals of the
Integral Assessment (Dacher, 2006) I have determined although I
have always thought myself a spiritual person, I am apparently weakest in the
area of pyschospiritual flourishing, especially in the subcategory of Conative
and Emotional. I find myself even now,
still driven by the basic instincts of fear as a the dominant driving factor in my
life. Rather than being intentional and
doing things because I choose to do them, I find myself being driven by the
fear of failure as a motivator in most of my daily decisions. I need to
practice Contemplative practices and allowing calmness to guide me rather than
fear. I find that the use of the Subtle
Mind exercise (Dacher, 2006) to be the easiest for me to perform many times a
day. I will continue to use this exercise to move forward in my attempt to Flourishing
to the Finish.
So, my dear classmates, I will keep putting positive energy
out into the universe for all of you and for me. I would, selfishly ask that you
do the same.
Safe and blessed week to all,
Rufus J.
Reference
Dacher, E.S., (2006). Integral
health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA. Basic Health
Publications, Inc.
Hello Rufus,
ReplyDeleteI think one thing that we all seem to deal with is fear. We're so afraid of change and what will happen if we fail. We can't seem to handle the thought of failing so much that we don't even want to try. But, if we don't try, we will never know what will happen. I would rather try and fail at something than let fear stop me in my tracks.
I think you're doing well so far. You're going through a lot right now and I think that this class and these exercises are helping all of us. We're finding out things about ourselves that we didn't know before and it makes sense as to why we act the way we do.
Change is scary, but I think you're going to accomplish everything you put your mind to. Just keep a positive attitude, believe that there is nothing you can't do, don't let fear and stress run your life, and don't be afraid to ask for help (or better yet, send out the flying monkeys to do some of the work for you so you can take a break).
You'll do just fine. Just keep your head up and keep thinking positively. It's a long journey you're on, but it will be worth it in the end.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI think I will take you up on the Flying Monkeys. Moving has become too stressful and I am in need of some help with all of the other pressures in my life. Flying Monkeys sound like just the thing to remove some of the physical and emotional roadblocks. :-)
Bless you heart for all of the Comedic Loving Kindness. I will take it in what ever form it is offered.
Have a Blessed week.
Hello Rufus!
ReplyDeleteYour interpretation to this week’s piece was, again, awesome. I enjoy your style as well as honesty, and I can already see how far you have come in your attitude and view of the topic. I, too, was raised in a not-so-ideal environment. I was not encouraged in the things I felt were important to me, and felt that I didn’t matter nor would I make a difference in this world.
When I left home, it gave me a strong sense of giving back every day I walk this Earth, and to leave more than I take. My biggest struggles with myself are the worldly view, and it is something I have been able to start setting in a positive way since the beginning of my journey (in school).
I am good at compartmentalizing, which is probably not such a healthy thing to do, as I do not work things out as much as I should. I tend to “box it up” and set it up on the shelf.
But like you, I am working on it, as the better I become, so will others just by being a part of my life.
Warm Regards,
Jenn
Rufus,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed your post as I usually do. I would say that this class is surely at an important time of my life also. My hope is that I can really incorporate these practices and make true change in my life. One thing I thought about when reading your post is the idea on transforming how you view work that we discussed in the discussion forum. Have you considered trying that method in reviving your emotional experience with school work and nursing. I can truly say it saved me from stopping completely.