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The
"Real" Deal?
By Mona Lease
Hi, all!!! The following are excerpts from a book I recently read
entitled, "How to be Free"...written by a guy named "Joe Blow." He says
he used "Joe Blow" because that moniker is usually used for someone not
"all that important." Joe Blow says he staggered through a large
portion of his life dealing with depression, anxiety, troubling
thoughts, and such. I think it's pretty profound and cuts through to
the "heart" of the matter. When asked if all of the actions he's
adopted in the book have actually worked for him, he said: "So far, so
good." See what you think.
"How to be Free" - Joe Blow
From "The Introduction:" The key to happiness, mental health, and being
the most that we can be is absolute and unconditional self-acceptance.
The paradox is that many of our problems are caused by trying to
improve ourselves, censor our thinking, make up for past misdeeds, and
struggling with our negative feelings, whether depression or aggression.
But if we consider ourselves in our entirety, in this very moment, we
know two things.
1)Anything we have done is in the past and cannot be changed, thus it
is pointless to do anything else but accept it. No regrets. No guilt.
2)While our actions can harm others, our thoughts and emotions, in and
of themselves, never can. While emotions sometimes drive actions, those
who completely accept their emotions, and allow themselves to feel them
fully, have more choice over how they act in the light of them.
Self-criticism never made anyone a better person. Anyone who does a
"good deed" under pressure from their conscience or to gain the
approval of others, takes out the frustration involved in some other
way.
From "Self-Acceptance and a Troubled World:" There are many problems in
the world that seem insoluble. As with depression, sometimes it seems
as if the more you try to do something about the problem, the worse it
gets.
From "Emotional Scars:" Often we will have an experience which will
leave us with painful feelings long after it is over in the physical
sense. But if that experience was inflicted on us by a person, or the
result of a situation we are no longer in, then that individual or
situation is no longer the source of our suffering. We are suffering
because of the nature of our thinking about that event. We are
torturing ourselves for no good reason, since the past cannot be
changed.
From "Violence is Admission of Error:" Facing the truth about
ourselves can be very painful, although only if we don't have the
correct framework of understanding.
We can tell something about the truthfulness of an individual's belief
system by observing their behavior. A belief system which is logically
consistent with observable reality is very stable and requires little
effort or discipline to maintain.
Where possible, we express our anger verbally, but sometimes the anger
is too strong and our ability to put it into words is insufficient.
This is when we resort to violence. As Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr
pointed out: "Violence is the language of the inarticulate."
From "General Advice on Becoming Free:"
1)Pleasure is healing.
2)Scary thoughts can't hurt you if you accept them rather than
fighting against them.
3)The truth will set you free if you can find a way of doing it which
feels non-threatening to you. Telling truths about
yourself which
you may have previously hidden, can be tremendously
liberating.
4)Don't criticize others if you can help it.
Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the
furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next
time. Ever Toodles!!! MONA
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