Our Controlling "Stories"

I have been reading and studying about the “stories” that control our lives. Our “stories” may have been true at one time but not now. For example, a person grows up in poverty and continues to believe that story even though he/she has more than sufficient money at present and little likelihood that they will someday run out of funds. Another example, a person grows up in a family that filled him/her with dreams of exceptionalism. That individual still believes he/she is an exception and now acts as if he/she does not need to keep the rules because, after all, he/she is the exception. It is difficult to move beyond our former “stories” that helped frame us with an identity. Those former “stories” whether true or not continue to have an outsized influence on our lives unless we learn new “stories” about ourselves and our lives.

Trusting my Dreams or Unconscious

I received a note from our County Clerk that I had failed to put our automobile registration forms in with our request for renewal of licenses. I was puzzled. I looked in the place where for years we have always kept those papers and they were absent. I went to our autos, and they were not there either. I was puzzled. I went to bed. Sometime during the night, I was informed by my unconscious in a dream-like-state that those papers were with our last year’s tax reports. Why they would be there is also a puzzle and a place I would never think to look. The next morning, however, I pulled out our tax forms and those registration papers were there. This experience reinforces my belief that my unconscious mind knows more than either my conscious or subconscious mind is aware of. I continue to want to trust and be aware of my unconscious mind and its message to me via those dreams or dream-like-states.

Fear and Greed Have Won This Election

The election is over, and, in my assessment, fear and greed won. From the news it seems as if the major issue motivating the votes, was the economy. There is not sufficient money to go around. Everyday prices of groceries and gasoline are going up. Those at the top of the economic systems are taking too much of the money and not sharing it with those workers in the middle or at the bottom of the systems therefore, we have strikes. Strikes reveal an unfair economic system of organizations. I would think a more equitable distribution would be the answer. We have forgotten the lesson we learned in kindergarten which was to share. However, organizations only raise the cost of their product which cycles the inequity. Those old desert fathers and mothers wrote about greed and said that the underlying issue was fear of insufficiency. Unfortunately, I do not believe Churches have a good word to say about this situation because Churches seem to think that bigger is better, even when their getting bigger means that small neighborhood or parish Churches, like small, neighborhood businesses, must close their doors. This election troubles me because I think it reveals fear, and greed has possessed us like a demon. Fear and greed have won this election.

What Is Happening?

This election discourages me. Not only the candidates, or at least one of the candidates, but the anger that is being demonstrated in our nation. We are the most blessed country in the world in terms of jobs, access to healthcare and education, housing, etc. There are no bombs being dropped onto our cities. There is no national war on our streets. Our nation is a peaceful nation. Of course there are issues. I am concerned about climate change. I am uncomfortable with so many military type guns on our streets, especially among young adults. I think there is too much prejudice, etc. I ask myself, “So, why are we so angry?” Have we grown numb to our blessings that we take those blessings for granted? I am reminded that St. Aquinas wrote that the most dangerous temptations are internal, and they are the seeking of power, along with wealth, pleasure, and honor. Maybe we are so angry because we do not know how to manage power, wealth, pleasure and/or honor.

Buddhism

The more I read and learn what the Buddha taught his followers, the more I believe that he was full of the Holy Spirit. So, I read and desire to learn from the Buddha/Buddhism because I do not want to turn away from teachings of the Holy Spirit. I question my friends who say that the Buddha was not a “Christian” to which I reply, “Well, of course not. The Buddha lived 500 to 600 years before the time of Christ”. I also wonder when they say they do not want to be influenced by Buddhism as they are on their way to a yogi class or talk about practicing mindfulness. I believe there is more to God than we think or believe. A quote from the Buddha as reported by Mark Nepo in his wonderful book, FALLING DOWN AND GETTING UP. “Act always as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that whatever you do makes any difference.” (p. 137)

What is the cost of not changing?

I frequently see individuals, in my therapy practice, who are stuck. That person may might stuck in a relationship, job, behavioral patterns, attitude, etc. They continually choose not to risk a move such as changing their thinking, seeing new possibilities, leaving a relationship or a job. They resist the arduous task of self-discipline that begins to alter a behavior, relationship, job expectations, the way a business or Church operates, etc. Too often, at least in my thinking, the individual cannot imagine other possibilities, or they deny and/or avoid them, so they continue to stay stuck in the issues that are causing the problems. When they come to see me, I usually hear the same continual complaints. I frequently ask them the question, “What is it costing you not to change?” They are often puzzled by my question because they have never considered the costs of not changing. What does it cost to stay stuck? Change has a cost but, also, not to change has a cost.

Questions Will Guide You

A book of immense wisdom is Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. He writes, “Have patience with everything unresolved and try to love the questions themselves.” It is the questions which will guide you on your journey. If you already have the answer(s), you will not notice or heed the guide or Spirit because, for you with the answers, you think your journey is finished.