Month: April 2018

Here is another excerpt from Dr. Terry Chitwood’s book How to Defend Yourself Without Even Trying: “It is important to remember that it is the power of the universe that nourishes your spirit and keeps you alive. Without that energy, your breath would cease. It is a gift to live even for another moment. Show your respect for your gift of life by only using your power for the benefit of mankind and not for personal gain.”

In our busy lives, as we go from task to task, be it at work, at school, raising children, and so on, it is easy to forget the miracle of our existence. That we did not create ourselves and give ourselves life. And we do not sustain our lives. I appreciate how Dr. Chitwood expresses these truths.

And I appreciate his reminder about using our gift of life to benefit others rather than for personal gain. Modern western culture emphasizes personal gain. We see it in movies and TV programs, advertisements, all kinds of media. It is not uncommon for people who focus only on themselves to feel empty. It is people who use their gift of life to help others, especially when they’ve been able to discern their unique purpose, who find a sense of fulfillment.

An elderly man who I cared about very much passed away about ten years ago. He had cancer and during the last few months of his life he was bed-ridden. Once when I was visiting him, he told me he wondered why God designed life so that people grow old and die and at the same time babies are born. And the babies, as they grow, need to go through life experiences and learn the many things that the person who has died spent all those year experiencing and learning. My friend said he wondered why God doesn’t just let people who are already here continue to live and not have more people be born who then have to start from the beginning. I’m sure my friend was feeling sad that he would be leaving his wife of many years, that he would no longer be here to help her and be her companion. And perhaps he was starting to grieve the ending of his life on earth.

Later when I thought about what my elderly friend had said, the thought “It’s the journey that matters” came to me. The creator has created each of us and put us on this earth, and we are given the opportunity to make choices and act on those choices as we live each day. It has been my experience, and I believe the experience of most people, that the right choice in a given situation isn’t always obvious, and we need to try to discern the Creator’s will for us. Sincerely making that effort is also part of the journey, as are realizing when we’ve made a mistake, doing our best to accept challenges, and trusting that the Creator is always with us. By trying to live in this way, each of us will know we tried our best as we’re nearing the end of our earthly journeys.

An author whose books have meant a lot to me is Terry Chitwood, a Jungian psychotherapist and writer. In his book How to Defend Yourself Without Even Trying, Dr. Chitwood says this about nonattachment: “Everything in this world changes. To resist change is useless and time-consuming. In order to live effortlessly and happily, you need to flow with your changes. The only other choice is suffering.”

When I think of “flowing with my changes,” I’m reminded of those times when what I was doing felt exactly right and as if it was being supported by the universe. What I was doing wasn’t based on choices my ego made but rather was my ego being in the service of a presence larger than it. As much as I believe that, based on my personal experience and reading, trying to discern life direction from dreams and synchronicities is essential to living a meaningful life, I often have to deal with my resistance when the direction I discern requires making changes. There is that part of me who wants to hold on to the familiar. And holding on, of course, is the opposite of nonattachment.

And yet each time I recognize my resistance and, in spite of it, try to follow the direction I’ve been given, it feels right again. And I am given the gift of flowing with my changes.