Tag Archives: judgment

Personal & Spiritual Growth

Here is a list of a few concepts from a new book about personal growth and spiritual process that I plan to publish 1n 2023, which covers some of what I teach in numerous workshops and share in my Life Coaching. As the book nears publication, I will post the information here and on my social media pages.

• The seven elements of essence
• Respond rather than react
• Influence rather than control
• Unconditional compassion rather than unconditional love
• We use 90% of our brain to keep us believing we only use 10%
• Embrace rather than comprehend
• Service rather than self-serve
• Understanding rather than judgment
• Embracing our essence rather than following our enculturation
• Lifestyle versus career
• Friendship rather than isolation
• Natural rather than normal
• Power rather than force
• Curiosity rather than fear
• Depth rather than shallow
• Understanding core beliefs rather than simply patterns
• Change rather than resistance
• Listening rather than talking
• Flexibility rather than rigidity
• Imagination rather than willpower
• Open-minded rather than dogma
• Living rather than dying
• Performance rather than trauma/drama
• Embracing rather than surrendering
• Optimism rather than pessimism
• Reverence for life rather than irreverence
• Responsibility rather than avoidance
• Essence rather than ego and personality
• Support rather than dominance
• Planning rather than worry
• Creativity rather than stagnation
• Transcend rather than circumvent

 

So Show Me!

I decided to post a paper on my blog that I wrote for my high school Freshman English class assignment in Southern California, along with the teacher’s personal comments. We were asked to write a paper during the class that described who we thought we were. Essentially, the paper was to be an autobiography.

After some serious reflection, I wrote my one line response and relaxed for the duration of the class feeling that I was thoughtfully succinct and that there was no need to share more. The teacher, felt differently. The next day in class she handed back the paper with her comments in red.

Over the years, I have shared the content of this paper as a Counselor, Hypnotherapist, and Life Coach in discussions about self-esteem, vulnerability, authenticity, judgment, compassion, and personal growth.

We are enculturated with parenting, education, training, reading, social media, and life experiences. It is easy to become ‘other directed’ rather than inner guided. When we are other directed by peer pressure, fears, and judgments from others we lose touch with our authentic self. With inner guidance, we can embrace our spiritual essence.

Did the comments have a personal impact on me? At the time, I figured that she just didn’t get what I was trying to say and shrugged it off. But then, I have kept it all of these years initially as a statement ― and then as a teaching tool. 🙂

Below is a scanned copy of the front and back of the paper with her comments.

english paper1

english 2