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January 2007 netPsychologist.com Newsletter
Tools and Tips For Success In Your Personal Growth.
  Who's Your Companion For Change?
Many people want to know what is counseling? “What should I expect?” How does it work?” “What makes a good counselor? I’ve never done counseling before.” These are some of the good questions I hear regularly.

My best answer is: “A counselor is a companion.” This is someone who walks along side another person as that person make’s a passage or transition. A companion is not judgmental or critical. They may at times challenge the other person’s thinking or actions, but they are equally quick to know when to offer comfort.

A companion may help to clarify choices and the possible consequences of each option, but they do not make those choices or decisions for the one they companion. And when the suffering is high or the sorrow deep, the companion stays steady, available and objective with their client.

A good companion understands that every trial a person endures has a purpose, some gift of learning the person has come to this point in their life to receive. The companion sees clients as courageous and brave knowing that the client, knowing that he client will decide when they are ready in their own way for. There is never ridicule or berating from the companion, but encouragement to keep going and make choices.

Counseling is not for everyone. There are many ways to solve problems, make changes or get through tough times. If you do decide to use the services of a professional companion, make sure you have confidence and comfort with the counselor you chose that they will honor you and your process. This means they companion you, not try to change you. Until you are ready to change, enjoy all the company you keep.

Five Principles for Happiness in 2007
David Bach   Before You Read, Let Me Introduce This Guy.
Some of you may remember from my comments in years past about New Year's Resolutions that I advocate against them. It's not the solid way to go about significant change, thus all the relapses and good intentions you see littering the byways of human life along about March and April of the now aging New Year.

Having said that, I ran across Mr. Bach and I like his message: The Five Principles are:

  1. Give Yourself A Break.
  2. Get Connected with Your Truth.
  3. Stop Judging Yourself.
  4. Stop Judging Others.
  5. Pursue Fun With A Vengeance.

 

I ask myself sometimes how many times I will have to hear these principles before they stick with me. I guess we all forget and need to be reminded. Mr. Bach gives us our annual reminder.

Go read the full article. It's rich, worth your time and gives suggestions to implement the Five Principles for Happiness in your life this year.

 
Want To Live In The Moment?
Amrit Desai   Be Careful. There's A Price To Pay. mandala
"If you want to experience the joyous ecstasy that life offers, there is one commitment that is absolutely fundamental: the commitment to live in the moment. With that commitment as your guiding focus, whatever you do in your daily life is part of your transformational process. Your commitment to living in the moment becomes your vehicle for spiritual growth."

"Living in the moment, however, is the most dangerous situation anybody ever faces in life, because everything you have ever avoided is revealed to you when you live in the moment. You get to face all the denied contents of you subconscious as they reappear again and again through the events of your life."

From: Christine Deslauriers, ed., In the Presence of a Master: Gurudev, Yogi Amrit Desai, Lenox, MA: Kripalu Publications, 1992, page 27.

 
Normal Day
Mary Jean Iron   Supplication.
NORMAL DAY,
Let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.
One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

From: Heron Dance, October 26, 2006

 
 
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