SOMETHING OF COURAGE
To have been raised by conscientious caring parents is an unfathomable asset. To be loved, valued and cherished; to be held close and to feel hope, joy and faith; to have the praise and encouragement of extended family; to have shared excitement in learning new things about your world and had challenges quenched with exuberant satisfaction; to have your basic needs met and your sweetest dreams and desires nurtured at least in part; your strengths lauded and your weaknesses regarded with understanding and faith in undiscovered potential. All these are beautiful gifts.
To have been shown the richness of the world with a sense of passionate wonder; to have been given patience and tolerance in your worst moments and tears of joy in your best; to have been given the luxury of exploring ones interests and aptitudes; to have been given the gift of opportunity and the privilege of an prolonged education; to have been given choices and the confidence to act on what you believe to be right… and these are wonderful gifts indeed.
These gifts instill deep within us a sense of empowerment and security and the desire, eventually, to give back some of what we have been given. The desire to give back to humanity, to our children, our families and our communities with a spirit of kindness and generosity, is a very good thing.
However, to have been given very little, if any of these gifts, to grow up in pain, suffering and complete despair, and then be able to change and grow into a place of enormous compassion, Now this is truly courage.
This is courage which is not glamorous nor polished, but rooted firmly in knowing what it is to live with inordinate fear and insecurity. It is a courage born of wishing all one’s life for just one thing with all one’s heart: that one could be part of a world where people just simply loved one another.
Since Jim has this love and it is growing daily, his journey is to share this love with anyone who needs it. His Philosophy lies in the fact that if one survives their own hell, one must share the answers they have found with everyone, it becomes not only a compassionate choice; it becomes one’s duty, one’s life purpose and one’s destiny. It has become all that and more for Jim.
Author: Alison Diesvelt
To have been raised by conscientious caring parents is an unfathomable asset. To be loved, valued and cherished; to be held close and to feel hope, joy and faith; to have the praise and encouragement of extended family; to have shared excitement in learning new things about your world and had challenges quenched with exuberant satisfaction; to have your basic needs met and your sweetest dreams and desires nurtured at least in part; your strengths lauded and your weaknesses regarded with understanding and faith in undiscovered potential. All these are beautiful gifts.
To have been shown the richness of the world with a sense of passionate wonder; to have been given patience and tolerance in your worst moments and tears of joy in your best; to have been given the luxury of exploring ones interests and aptitudes; to have been given the gift of opportunity and the privilege of an prolonged education; to have been given choices and the confidence to act on what you believe to be right… and these are wonderful gifts indeed.
These gifts instill deep within us a sense of empowerment and security and the desire, eventually, to give back some of what we have been given. The desire to give back to humanity, to our children, our families and our communities with a spirit of kindness and generosity, is a very good thing.
However, to have been given very little, if any of these gifts, to grow up in pain, suffering and complete despair, and then be able to change and grow into a place of enormous compassion, Now this is truly courage.
This is courage which is not glamorous nor polished, but rooted firmly in knowing what it is to live with inordinate fear and insecurity. It is a courage born of wishing all one’s life for just one thing with all one’s heart: that one could be part of a world where people just simply loved one another.
Since Jim has this love and it is growing daily, his journey is to share this love with anyone who needs it. His Philosophy lies in the fact that if one survives their own hell, one must share the answers they have found with everyone, it becomes not only a compassionate choice; it becomes one’s duty, one’s life purpose and one’s destiny. It has become all that and more for Jim.
Author: Alison Diesvelt
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LEARNING TO LOVE: RECOVERY
Amalgamating 12 steps, counseling. Reading: A. Miller, J. Bradshaw, M.S. Peck, Paul Hawken and M. Fox …analyzing the common threads and searching for a better path…seeking validation and ways to let go for the wrongs done by others, analyzing and working to change learned dysfunction, learning to forgive and making amends to the people you have harmed… Loving yourself first and learning how to love & trust yourself…allowing yourself time to honestly and safely express your anger, rage and grief over unmet needs and emotional, physical and sexual wounds etc…. gradually opening up that capacity to trust and love others and gradually reopening the heart and mind to accept the fundamental goodness in yourself and in others…like attracts like…so in time you attract more meaningful love relations and less dysfunctional ones…you build a new path through the forest…and knowing that seeking love is a lifelong journey where you learn to give love first to yourself and then to others, until it is woven into the complex tapestry of who you are. You never completely get rid of the learned dysfunctions but you can learn to see it in yourself, own it and work through it and eventually move around it when a learned reaction is staring you in the face…in time you may get to recognize the triggers before you react and take the time to acknowledge them, and take a walk or a time out to regain your perspective…you learn to create and chose different pathways in your thinking and in your own behaviour…This in turn affects the way others see you and treat you… Author: Jim Mandelin Love is misunderstood as an emotion. Actually, it is a state of awareness, a way of being in the world, a way of seeing oneself and others. Dr. David R. Hawkins |
