mental health doctor

good afternoon everybody wherever you are in the world at this time welcome to reclaiming authenticity so glad that you were joining me here this afternoon reclaiming authenticity is finding one's courage to reclaim that which has always been in you and I'll say a little bit more about that just something is very near and dear to my heart cuz I firmly believe that we do come into the world with everything that we already have and I think most of our Lives we should go to try to figure out what that is and to look inward or perhaps we look in all the wrong places but it is there nonetheless well welcome welcome welcome to yet another Friday afternoon here it is straight-up 3 Eastern Standard Time I'm dr. James that if you'd like more information about me or to leave me your comments about Today Show invite you to do that I want you to visit our website it's ww.w

PBS radio.com and then it's reclaiming authenticity and if you'd like to call in the number is 888-627-6008 that's 888 6 to 7 6008 be taking your calls after the break about halfway through the broadcast so invite you to join in on the conversation and also pleased to announce and remind everybody out there that these broadcasts are our podcast it now because you want to go back and listen again and or maybe you can't spend the whole hour with me and so forth but you could always go back into the archives and listen to not only this show but also previous shows and shows are also available for download on if you have the audible app or the Amazon music app you can access the show this way and before we begin today I just wanted to take time

each and every week I just I think everybody for their support over the past year and would like to say that you now have the opportunity to continue your support by becoming a monthly subscription and I'll just clarify to hear that you do not need to have a subscription to listen to the shows but it is greatly appreciated having so again just go to the website and click on the link and choose any amount that you feel comfortable giving and again thank you for that very excited to be with you every Friday 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and any other time where you might find yourself today welcome to February 4th welcome to February lot going on this week not only did we venture into a new month and you know if you're like me or like what happened in January okay it's come and gone so we're in February now happy groundhogs day

play for those who follow the little furry Brown Critter and where we are in the Mid-Atlantic States Groundhog's Day is a big to-do and so it was kind of like okay whatever little groundhog saw his shadow and six more weeks of winter or whatever and we have apps now that we could track our weather but it's always fun to like what's the groundhog going to say so yeah we have six more weeks of winter so that's going to definitely take us into March before the other things hope you do mostly warm-up and so forth but also in addition to Groundhog's Day I just wanted to say Happy Chinese New Year for those who follow and celebrate Chinese New Year it is the follows the lunar calendar not the not the other traditional calendar that begins on January 1st but the lunar calendar and this happens to be the year of the tiger so those again

to follow Chinese traditions Tiger has great symbolism K so for those of you who are too for the first time just want to say you know welcome aboard welcome to the show and each and every week these broadcasts are dedicated to the integration of spirituality and our mental health and that is very unique that's not just talking all about spirituality or all about mental health but something rather unique happened something rather transformative happens to us when we integrate our spirituality and the state of our mental health it is extraordinary to say the least because the greater context in which I place this integration of spirituality and mental health is in relationships because that is

you want to use this term. Common denominator but you know it doesn't matter who we are or where we were born in the world or even into what family we were placed ours is a world that is just filled with relationships and we are born into relationships and indeed we are social beings who we spend our lives trying to make sense of our world and at times we tried to find our place in the world but that is often completed or I should say pursued in the greater context of our relationships and so I said we are social beings and it is often within the context of relationships that we unfortunately experience tremendous pain or suffering or disappointment or frustration and then so forth and this could be anything from over acts of betrayal or cruel

that somebody has inflicted on us or we have inflicted on them or maybe we are just in the wrong place at the wrong time but at any rate how many people have the the scars of you no such physical psychological emotional and spiritual windedness and it's all good I talked to you about in the show is is basically how we tell our stories and and how we're able to go deeper and our stories with the assistance of teachers and mentors and gurus and so forth and even leaders but we have to really do our own homework because a teacher a guru of mentor and so forth a leader who has really done his or her work in

this area will point us exactly in the direction that we need to go and we'll will take us deeper into the themes of forgiveness in our lives and gratitude and then where do they show up and I don't report and you know not just important as as the forgiveness and gratitude is but also the depth of love so that we can continue in our relationships not from a place of frustration or pain or confusion or were you know but rather we become you know better in and through healthier relationships you know as we heal we heal others it may not be directly but definitely in directly and so you know just an all of our relationships no matter how close they are whether it be the one who holds that special place in our hearts

two family members are extended family members two people that we just randomly meet on the street we're going to be different because well we are different we're going to be different in those relationships and so forth okay so just as we experience shall we say woundedness on many different levels in certain relationships it's also within the context of healthier relationships that we can't find our healing and ultimately our voice our purpose our authenticity okay it's you know if the difficulty is that finding the courage to discover those things which have always been in you

and I'm talking about those gifts and Graces and skills and our uniqueness that we have come into the world with

and this is what the Franciscan scholar John duns scotus mentioned when he talks about a highchair task or a dismas he often write like what is a person's uniqueness what is this this Menace that they have that nobody else has because you've heard me say this a numerous times and I'll say it again I am a firm believer that we come into this world with everything we need for ourselves and for others are through various experiences we've been taught or we just assumed that you only have to give away those parts if not the whole of that uniqueness or this nusenda water to survive unhealthy relationships

because you know perhaps we felt maybe growing up or you might even feel this today is though that you just cannot live up to the expectations of another or maybe you've had your uniqueness or you're hiding your uniqueness from others in order to survive abuse or perhaps those aspects of yourself that have been taken away from you and you just didn't have the strength to either hang on to those things or two to fight it but but either way you know all is not lost because whenever we become aware that certain things have been done to us were or the things that we have done it it takes tremendous courage to reclaim who we are and we can reclaim our voice our uniqueness our this mess

so this is really what reclaiming authenticity is all about focusing on the integration of spirituality and our mental health all within the context of our relationships with ourselves others God or the divine

well

let's take this a little bit deeper shall we before we get into what it is that we're going to be talking about the day when we get into healthy relationships it is amazing as we have been working on let's say our forgiveness and our gratitude and then love we begin to understand that forgiveness and kindness and compassion begins with us the begins with how we treat ourselves and let's say that we're engaged in Universe struggling with with trying to forgive somebody of what they had done and we often overlooked the fact that shoe what is it in us that we need to forgive ourselves for is there anything that we have done if not okay but we always have to look within ourselves

because forgiveness and kindness compassion begins with us and as we are healing you know we can we can measure our healing to a certain degree because whenever we're compassionate with ourselves we find that we discover that we could become more compassionate with others and when we were more patient with ourselves we then discover that we can become more patient with others and vice-versa and when we are more forgiving of ourselves we can certainly be more forgiving with another person can I what am I saying that I think is key to all this is and when were able to live in gratitude with ourselves and gratitude with what we have and then to be the peace and be at peace and contentment with who we are we then discover how this opens our hearts up to see and live in gratitude with other

so transformation always begins with us but it extends out in these relationships

so how is your heart these days you know here we are in February and I hope your heart is doing well I hope you are well and if if not you know my hope is that even if you're struggling today that you will be able to find the comfort and rest and peace that you need while welcome to Today's Show soul to soul life to life where transformative wisdom occurs

okay you probably caught on that yes it's going to bring us right back into the context of relationships because that is where and how truth is imparted this disk transformative wisdom this is where the curse a soul to soul connection or a life to life connection or a heart-to-heart connection so let's talk about the people who help us do that so I'm sure all of us can probably count on one hand the number of teachers who've had made a great difference in our lives you probably still remember their names okay and it could be you know the way they taught us or the passion in which they interacted with us to their presents

and great teachers and gurus and leaders went beyond merely teaching us facts and figures and stead making these teachers and gurus and L what made them great was the way they exuded

genuine wisdom that transformed into making our lives better and you know what it really didn't matter what the subject was it could have been math it could have been science it could have been spelling it could have been something else that it was something about how they taught because

they were teaching from let's say a different perspective a different place in them where they saw a great potential in their students so whether it's within let's a Western or Eastern cultures okay effective teachers and mentors and leaders and gurus throughout history have been characterized by those who helped as I would like to decide to help pull out of us and others the very best of ourselves

in fact they helped us to be healed and empowered to tell our stories differently because as we've interacted with them or maybe we're still interacting with them that we share our stories are life stories they now become part of those stories and to one degree or another and how they shaped us or how they impacted us or how they were with us again it wasn't just words that they taught with but it was maybe their presents or how they live their lives the authenticity that they lived out on a daily basis while it's it's unfortunate that something I've noticed that's being lost or at least downplayed and our society in today's world and and that's the special relationship between a teacher and a student or let's say a master and a disciple

and it's within the special relationship that's unlike any other relationship we might have with anyone else in this life it is really unique it is very soft because again I am a firm believer that everything we do involves an interaction with other people and again it all comes back to relationship yeah there is a potential there for wounding and relationships and there's a potential for healing in relationships so let's think back again to the teachers that you've had in your life that have made a huge difference in the world what what made the difference

Adele and then let's be honest there may have been teachers who we had who may have abused their position or sought to control others through let's say trying to contain knowledge privilege and there may have been others who sought to empower us and set us free with that knowledge and said look this isn't just math or science but here's what we learned these subjects here's why this is so important this is how it makes our lives better

because there are teachers who can reach us in let's say a formal setting like a school or college or a university even a trade school or or leaders and teachers in church or synagogue or a mosque and then there are teachers who may have done their best teaching outside the classroom service fee

teachers who have shown up at just the right time in our lives in which let's say we are now ready to hear from them and to be transformed by not only who they are but also what they shared and how they shared it okay and another thing that we have to be honest with ourselves that in his were talking about teachers and leaders mentors gurus and so forth is that they can only take us as far as they themselves have gone in terms of their own Discovery and and realization and growth and there are some teachers who have taken us so far and then we find that they are you know in one way or another have handled this off to another teacher who takes us a little bit farther and so forth and so forth and we can certainly point to a safe formal education that as we graduate and we go up the ladder

Elementary School to middle school the high school and maybe into college and so forth yeah we've had many different teachers and but that knowledge Builds on on one after another okay but let's think about the teachers who have not set foot in the classroom to teach us okay there may have also been many teachers in our lives and still to this day teachers who would take us to a certain level or to a certain point because we're open at that time to hear it or it's just exactly what we need and then you know in kind of a an indirect way I had it off to another teacher who can take us just a little bit farther and so forth okay I've heard many people you don't share those experiences with me that they've had several teachers and each one has had a unique way of interacting and impact

are shaping their lives and you've heard me on many times in this broadcast talking about teachers and about that one deer mentor and teacher and friend to you you're the one who taught me so much about healing and regeneration of trauma and it was not only through his words and behaviors that's why I'd learned but also how he was and how he is with me you know his presence and indeed it is a special relationship you drive me crazy at times because he didn't let anything go everything was a lesson or I should say everything involves a lesson I have to be honest with everybody or sometimes I just didn't want to hear it I just wasn't in the mood to be taught I just wanted to just hang out and chill relax whatever and yet here comes a lesson damn

right between my eyes and it's like I got a I got a Thang and that's like just stop

and just be open be aware that you have lessons are coming to us anywhere anytime because we often look for God and we don't realize I perhaps God is like right under our noses or God is answering a prayer that we had in the most unlikely ways and threw the most unlikely people and so have that moment to moment awareness to not just pick up on the lessons that we need to integrate into our lives but also to be aware of just how my God you know integrate us into somebody else's life you know through a kind word or just being there are presents and and so forth so indeed very very special relationship that I have with my teacher and

they said before relationships are very important so the teacher to student or teacher disciple Guru to a student and so forth these relationships are very very unique and teacher or a mentor or a guru they assume a tremendous responsibility for the student or students in the prayer not just for what's being taught to being held to a higher standard but also how the student is Mentor okay and again I see you're just such a tremendous shift going on in the world today regarding such relationships

and I believe the the different ways in which people have been exposed to let's say in the past the controlling oppressive ways you know down through history and how people are becoming more and more resistant to that kind of misuse of power and this is one of the distinct characteristics that I mentioned last week about you know being a teacher in name only and versus one who has done and is doing their own inner work

because again it is quite honest to say that a teacher or a leader in name only who says do it my way

you know it is one who's pretty much don't you know seeking to control they seek to manipulate their they have their own agenda or they they seek to work through a student to Advanced you know their own goals and and that could become very oppressive it's almost like a cookie cutter mentality that you have to come out a certain way that doesn't allow for freedom of integration and so forth but a teacher a leader a guru who has done their work and is doing their inner work who teaches through lived experiences is one who is tremendously valuable because they see not only to impart knowledge but more importantly they seek to impart wisdom through their own lived experiences their shared experiences which involves their own struggles their own Joyce sorrows

involves their life in a way that is very transparent and it's often experienced through their humility and honor

and you know it is well why student or why students who listen to what's being taught or how it's being taught that they understand that they can see they can read they can hear they can feel it they know something's different they see the transparency they see the humility they see the honor and they said they can feel it within their heart that what is being shared and how it's being shared is authentic

as well as you know who is sharing is genuine cuz it got an authentic teacher leader or Mentor never 6 to control it seems like I can't emphasize that enough. I just see it not just down through history but it's also going on today

and effective teachers and leaders in our lives they always look within a student or a 90 for the potential to be empowered to integrate the truth and to live it out for themselves there is no cookie-cutter mentality it's like how are you going to live this out how are you going to integrated fact the most effective teachers are the ones who bring out the best in us and even points Us in the direction to where we must do our own work in terms of integrating forgiveness and gratitude and love

and you know this is what thousands of great leaders and teachers have done for centuries and as we are now in the month of February Black History Month you know what we're going to be reminded of Martin Luther King jr. but he was one who not only spoke from the pulpit or the podium so to say but he was also one who came down from the podium and marched with the people you know he wasn't what do as I say he was let's do this together

you know he he lived the struggle he walked with the people he ate with the people he drink their water he breathe the same are one of them as well as like pointing to society and says you know and then said that yes things need to change its time to change its things need to transform it's time for people to transform

and the reason why perfect effective leaders can do this is because they're they're not willing to allow others to settle for you no mediocrity and even if there is some resistance at the teacher who is doing their work a guru who has done and is doing their inner Journey their patient knowing that everybody is on his or her own spiritual journey they know it might take longer they know it's going to take time and so forth but everybody arrives at the truth sooner or later

instead you know a fact the teachers and mentors and leaders always Empower us to discover the greatness in ourselves and others they pulled out of us and they they see how to put out of us what speaks to us and what impacts us and so forth and effective teachers and mentors and leaders again never ever ever ever seek to control others they seek to release and and hope that we have the courage then to embrace that freedom

and again teachers mentors and leaders can do this the great ones it because they themselves have just have discovered how to live in forgiveness and gratitude and love on a daily basis so let me know if you're taking notes or anything and let me give you a little exercise and looking for three specific things and leaders and teachers and ask yourself just ask yourself this question

how have they integrated and been transformed by forgiveness gratitude and love

how they've been in you know how have they integrated and been transformed by forgiveness gratitude and love

and that should tell you everything you need to know about whether or not you know they seek to control others where they seek to empower others but sometimes we find a good teacher or a mentor and later and we often become complacent okay we become complacent believing that may be all I need to do is just hang around and ask for one blessing after another and I'll do it again let's not kid ourselves we have our own spiritual in our work to do in terms of cultivating our own forgiveness gratitude and love in a daily life may we to have a responsibility to be open and teachable

I'm down through the centuries the traditional or ancient teachers about you know they viewed students as a tabula rasa a blank slate upon which to record knowledge and I thought students were viewed as empty vessels to be filled then with facts and figures and so forth or to put it another way that students were encouraged to have that childlike faith and to approach the things of God and the inner truth that lie within the soul with humility and a trust and a face that is simple and true

and students were responsible for being open and teachable and prepared themselves to receive and to accept the fact that they didn't know what they didn't know and therefore be no 20 themselves the notion that they didn't have everything figured out but rather they needed to yield themselves in order to be taught well I would really love to hear your heart on this subject and if you'd like to call in that number is 888-627-6008 that's 880-627-6082 he is about the teachers who made a difference in your life and and how how that's made an impact on you so I'll be taking your calls after this break in again you are listening to reclaiming authenticity and I'm your host dr. James Howard be back with you in one minute

okay welcome back everybody I am dr. James how come you are listening to reclaiming authenticity I just want to give you a little heads-up about next week she'll invite you to attend same time Friday 3 p.m. Eastern Standard time I'm going to be sharing the ways in which we in the past have measured mental and spiritual growth in our lives okay but it's not just going to be about that but I really I want to share you know how I believe we're being called now to transcend those developmental parameters those those like you know signposts say okay I'm it says I'm here where it says I'm there and so smart how far I have to go

and how on one hand yes that kind of shows us where we're at but on the other hand it can really really hinder our our growth because we are in a way kind of measuring success so again invite you to tune in next week Friday 3 p.m. I'll be sharing it just how we are at the tree and send the developmental parent parameters I should say to measuring mental and spiritual growth or a liter or a guru who has done their work their inner work who teaches through lived experiences is one who is tremendously valuable because they see not only to impart knowledge but more importantly they seek to impart wisdom through their own lived experiences and their shared it

appearances and this sharing involves their own struggles you know that's a part of their story now they share with us their own choice and their sorrows and involves you know seeing their life and walking with them in a way that is transparent seen through their humility and honor and it is why it is why student who listens to that and understands that you know the person can see it I can read it I can hear it I can feel it within my heart that what is being shared is authentic and you know that what is being shared is genuine and who is doing the sharing is genuine because a true leader teacher Mentor will never seek to control us if they will always impart that wisdom in order for us to experience what they

have experienced in that is such a freedom in our lives that have made a difference to us or even the ones that we have in our lives today they always look within the student or the mentee that you don't they look for that potential to be empowered to integrate the truth and live it out for themselves okay and as I mentioned right before the break is Martin Luther King jr. who is very good at this so I can tell he was one who not only you know was a great leader because he spoke from the pulpit Podium but he came down from that and walked amongst the people here you know we've got involved in the marches and he was not hiding in the back he was out front he was like okay we're in this together let's go follow me and so forth and I'm really encouraged to people because he was very authentic and so forth

and I'm convinced that we we learn best when were able to integrate such wisdom into our lives on that daily basis okay because if there's one aspect that has been so evident down through the centuries it's the fact that truth has always been imparted soul2soul life to Life One relationship to another relationship to another relationship and so forth in fact even if I'm leader or a teacher or a guru have been killed for imparting truth the wisdom contained within that truth can never be silenced because it lies within the soul

and

interesting Lee enough that brings us to this point that not everyone is going to be drawn to truth of what is being shared in fact it seems like it's just the opposite the more authentic the person the more authentic the message the more person or persons come up against that more more you're going to find more and more people are repelled by it and they seek to silence it

and so whenever we we come across this and even recent history or ancient history or whatever we just have to ask ourselves so what is it about Society of people within Society who feel that they need to silence or stifle a leader no one is his who is considered to be so threatening or they are threatened by the truth

that a person living out their truth and speaking their truth is viewed as one who needs to be killed or done away with

but you know you could never silence truth

I think it's interesting that since the beginning of time humanity has always tried to show he say washed her hands from all kinds of atrocities and Injustice is that have been inflicted on land and each other and ironically such crimes against humanity quite often seem to escalate especially when they're done for and in the name of God and in this sense humanity is very creative you know coming up with ways for justifying you no shedding another's blood innocent or otherwise

but if you ever watch the Disney movie Pirates of the Caribbean the Curse of the Black Pearl you might recognize the phrase dead men tell no tales and this is a phrase that was uttered by mr. Cotton's parrot is all you would say that men tell no tales and many people believe this was a phrase invented by the Pirates as they washed their way through perilous Voyage is in search of buried treasure now even today hearing this phrase might make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up but you know neither Disney nor the Pirates invented this expression

and in fact it's its Origins can be traced back to a proverb by the English reformer Thomas Becket I think he lives somewhere in like the mid-to-late 1580 says that the dead cannot reveal any secrets night that's the original context the dead cannot reveal any secrets so although this has existed for a long time it didn't really gained popularity until it became famous to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney to tell no Tales means to keep something quiet or kill anybody who knows about it and since that person is dead it would be pretty much impossible for him or her to tell your secret

and a very similar saying I should came from Benjamin Franklin who said three can keep a secret if two are dead

well today forensic psychologists Coroner's and crime scene investigators and detectives investigating murder scenes do rely on the deceased to tell them all kinds of Secrets as to who or what or where or when and even perhaps why they died or were killed

and interesting Lee the westernize world of mental health therapy and medicine and spirituality and theology must also discover the benefit of knowing how the dead continue to speak through the living

and perhaps despite what we've been taught in less a biology class or theology or psychology classes various personal experiences reveal that the dead do speak in many ways the fact they speak to us let's say in our dreams through our condition behaviors even our attitudes or perceptions or thought processes or a learned behavior they even speak to us through work ethics and interpersonal relationships and phobias and addictions all handed down to us from one generation after another

and yeah maybe you're like me that you even know somebody in your family who has a certain mannerisms that is the spitting image of a deceased relative whom they've never met

remind me of a story that my my grandmother when she was living always used to tell me that I reminded her of my deceased grandfather and and my grandfather he died in the coal mines when my father was 2 years old and she used to say you know whatever you said and you hold your head a certain way you were on you remind me of George and there are even times that when I left I reminded my grandmother of him as a boy growing up I didn't know what she meant by that but for her it was as if George continue to live on in the family

indeed he does

same family secrets personal stories of Injustice is that were shall we say intended to be taken to the Grave also live on in present Generations factors so-called family and Society secrets are often revealed again and again and again through unhealed traumas that have been passed down through the language of blood and the voice of the Soul

back draw all of society's feeble attempts at sanitizing human history blood spilled in the name of murder or genocide or Manifest Destiny cover-ups the doctrine of Discovery and slavery for starvation in Camp minsi lynchings exterminations just to name a few

these are still evident in both the land that holds the energy where the blood was shed as well as the souls that remain ensnared there

and I stated earlier these phenomena are especially true when such violent crimes against humanity were committed in the name of God

and this fundamental belief used to justify such mistreatment of humanity and this is what Kevin Arnett he's the founder of the international tribunal into crimes of church and state he describes as that when God is on our side we feel as though we can commit any crime we are absolved individually from that crime by believing we have a higher sanction and that's the danger of religion it allows people to do that

well ironically blood spilled throughout the history of violence against one another is never silent

cries of the blood and the Soul reach heaven crying out to every succeeding generation to heat its voice and reconcile its suffering

do bats come back to the teacher let's come back to the leader the mentor the guru who teaches us and is very effective in our lives because they have done and are doing their inner work

and let's ask ourselves a question how did they get to this point to where they're teaching but yet it comes from a place within them that's he's not only themselves not only the world but they see us differently

well I think this is the answer okay let's let's begin with this simple question just how differently would we live our lives if we fully realized ourselves as soul

and how differently would we live our lives if we treated one another as Souls

I mean is I'm sure the answer is that our lives would look a lot different than what they appear to be today and I also suspect that we would be so empowered to treat others and all relationships with the fullest extent of kindness and love and patience and compassion and Grace that the world would definitely sit up and take notice

to you it is possible that the teachers in Our Lives who had a tremendous impact on us so more than us then let's say perhaps we even realized at any given moment

but that's powerful that is a teacher who has realized that within himself and herself and and the doesn't just see the student they see the potential for that student to realize all that they are all that they brought into this world and so forth

well when I was in graduate school I was first exposed to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs a very basic basic model come in but it's a means of understanding our human nature and striving to Achieve Personal goals minutes Optical to anybody and this model of understanding human development you know where understanding the South follow the logic that our lives go through stages if you will up at aiding personal needs such as food or clothing shelter security interest intimacy with others goals life meaning purpose and so forth but ironically many people to believe that once they attain self-actualization cuz that word has kicked around a lot or discovering their life's purpose or motivation and meaning

then they have finally found life satisfaction that has so long eluded them

and it doesn't always turn out to be that way if I quit many people are often met with the harsh reminder that in attaining but say our dreams and Ambitions and goals doesn't necessarily guarantee happiness let alone finding an inner peace that we might say perhaps thought we would find

now despite you know accomplishments people still sense something is missing from their lives and it's like they've set up bar and they've achieved it now what Dave and there's like there's just more of like I got to do better I got to do it you know wiser or something and you know it it's it's just it's Rose a lot of people that I talk to her they just like I thought it would be different I thought it would feel different and you know what is this thing that's missing from their lives and so in spite of their accomplishments so you know why then do so many people feel so empty when they have so much and what's the problem you know seems to be a disconnect there and perhaps these feelings of disappointment with Maslow's hierarchy shall I say stems from a misperception that is so flawed model

okay but maybe we just need to understand that that model is limited and other words self-actualization carries us only so far and here I'm kind of tipping my hand is what's going to be shared for next week because you know we we went to hang our hats so to speak on these models that say if we just follow the pattern and stay on track you'll get it and it's like wait a minute these models that we have in our lives can be very very limiting okay so some factual ization only carries us so far but attaining true happiness and joy and peace in our lives comes not in the accumulation of things or degrees or accomplishments but rather these things come from the grace of God's presence in our lives and through L teachers mentors and gurus who have experienced

themselves

can I have these are the things that have truly touched their soul and these are the things that truly touch are so in fact there is a greater depth of contentment and forgiveness and love and joy and peace and so forth that awakens on us when we fully realize ourselves as souls and we truly who are we

and it's it's through God's grace that we were able to recognize our souls connection to God and be kind of like throw off that cloak of Illusion

and still with the limitation of Maslow's model it doesn't mean that it's it's a worthless Pursuit I mean we do have needs to know we do need food and clothing and shelter and so forth so it's not a bad model it's just limited

okay but we also have to understand that as we pursue these things looking beyond that always points us towards a higher Awakening of self realization of who we truly are

in other words we're worried about feeding the body the course we get hungry okay but what are we doing to feed the soul

we talked about being a nurturing relationships okay but how are we to nurturing the soul

how are we truly treating one another's as Souls

and interesting Lee I've learned this lesson you know and then because I became involved and healing and regeneration of trauma you know but the first thing I think all of us need to do is to step outside our linear thinking of Alexei a past present future and take a leap of faith God's grace that opens a stop to this expanded awareness this expanded consciousness

once we realize who we are and our teachers and gurus and mentors and and so forth who have been very effective in Our Lives who pull out the very best in us once we realize what those things are and who we are we are then encouraged to re-engage Maslow's hierarchy shall we say, more Life Giving inspiration that focuses not on a ego-driven achievement but rather we're not going to do things which enhance the value and dignity and worth of all relationships because perhaps that's what's been taught to us perhaps that's what's been modeled for us

so realize souls are no longer motivated to feed others just for the sake of alleviating their own Gilton and filling the empty stomachs would rather their motivation comes from the awareness that by feeding others they're also feeding the souls with compassion and Grace and instead of spending time with another out of obligation and the like okay it's that time again this week realize Souls instead see another soul in need of friendship and love and instead of forgiving others from the perspective of well what do I get out of it

we instead forgive because we will not allow people to carry the crippling effects of unforgiveness and bitterness but it has on them and us as Souls all in all as we bless others in the physical sense we also bless them in the spiritual sense

and this is the wisdom that is communicated from very effective teachers in our lives because they see that potential in us they say that's what you need to do in terms of forgiveness gratitude and love do your inner work because it's there it's there to be discovered us there to be embraced it's there to be lived it's there to be a healing and a blessing for not just yourself but for others who need to discover those things in themselves as well

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never diminish even the simplest acts of kindness and compassion and Grace movies are truly the acts that touch the soul and caused all of Heaven to Rejoice maybe even a cup of cold water can invoke this so self-realization fulfills this self-actualization dr. James Howard and you have been listening to reclaiming authenticity until we talk to one another again and may you find that peace may you be in peace and may God hold us in God's hand bye bye

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