So, I am working my way through Fr. Thomas Keating’s book “Divine Therapy”
Step 1: I am powerless over _____X_______ and my life has become unmanageable.
Where X is:
something in my personality development that I cannot see that has led me to this moment.
Where I can accept that I can really look at my life now and see what areas I have not taken on board.
I have made a huge stride forward to this moment by choosing to live on my own.
Whatever goodness has come my way, is now visible to me as the fruits of my labor.
What has rendered me powerless is my gradual willingness to let go of ego centered striving.
I can attribute this to a long run of trial and error and reading good books.
I know that I did not get my own way as a child and that has led me to a nagging frustration in life that I have compounded over time.
I have had grand delusions that if people only knew how smart I was……they would treat me differently.
All the time, I never nurtured myself except minimally.
I learned how to dodge, avoid and run from my shadow self. The part of me that I had no process to process.
I’m getting better now, partly because aging does seem to mellow out the rough edges of one’s personality.
Decades of experiences gives you something tangible to reflect on.
So, had I done absolutely nothing remarkable in my life, could I be at the same point anyway?
According to Ken Wilber, no. I would be even more retarded than I am today.
According to his research, the one practice that bumps everyone up a few stages is incorporating a contemplative practice twice a day for 20 mins. SO that’s what I am doing. I either take a 20 min nap or 20 min meditation twice a day.
What results am I expecting to see?
I think if the flow of the steps are perfectly designed, I would naturally flow into
Step 2. starts tomorrow….
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