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| The Heroic Journal
Living Your Resilient Life
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Welcome
The Heroic Journal is a monthly newsletter to focus on real-life stories, ponderings, research, quotes, trainings and resources for individuals, families, businesses and communities looking for ways to be inspired to keep going when challenging life events occur. Each month, we take a look at parts of the ancient framework of the Heroic Journey, to deepen the way we each live that journey. Whether the journey is playing out professionally or personally, we can all learn from one another and can be good mentors, allies, heralds and even threshold guardians!
The archives of the newsletters are always posted on www.theomnibuscenter.com if you wish to catch up on back editions. Print them out or forward them to others. Sometimes there is a common theme (such as the November 2009 newsletter is all about veterans). In the next three months, we will have a business edition. Because each story reflects the values and thoughts of the people being featured, you will notice a diversity in spiritual and secular beliefs, cultural influences and a difference in the generation of the person being featured. One thing they will all have in common is the element of resilience.
If you have a story you wish to share - to be the author or to be interviewed - please scroll to the very bottom of this newsletter for the email address or phone number to call to inquire. This newsletter goes to a minimum of 48 states and three countries. Thank you for being a part of the communities of HEROES (Healthy Empowered Resilient Optimistic Empathetic Souls).
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Eat A Penguin: Health, Healing & Curing
Terri Schanks, MSW, LCSW
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What's the two things they tell you are healthiest to eat? Chicken and fish ... You know what you should do? Combine them-- eat a penguin!
~~Dave Attell
My doctor recently told me that jogging could add years to my life. I think he was right. I feel ten years older already.
~~Milton Berle
Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you...
~~Carl Jung
Heal... (verb) from the Old English "wholeness, being whole, sound or well"... "uninjured, of good omen" .... "holy, sacred"
Cure...(noun) c.1300, a remedy. From Latin "care, concern, trouble," ..."to be concerned." Cured...In reference to fish, pork, etc., first recorded 1743. Meaning "medical care" is late 14c.
The word heal is a verb...active, moving, fluid, full of life. Cure is a noun- a person, place or thing, but more importantly-the passive recipient of the actions or movement of another. It is also a reference to drying meat, salting the flavor and life out of it for the sake of saving it. Such is the difference between healing and curing. If necessity is the mother of all invention, then the need for a cure is probably the mother of all healing. Curing is about restoring physical function to the body, but healing inevitably becomes about restoring a relationship, often to the non-physical self, to those whom we want to love well, or to the Divine. Curing is a journey we choose while seeking to be relieved of trouble or a concern. But healing often becomes a journey that chooses us, and as such it becomes fluid, a movement toward health and wholeness, a good omen, holy and sacred. Cures are about surviving, healing is about thriving. Cures are about what the experts think they know about you or a disease process. Healing is about what you come to know and believe about yourself and your own journey.
Before I moved into a private practice dedicated to healing, I worked in hospice for several years. During much of that time, I worked in a hospice house and had the opportunity to be with literally hundreds of people while they were dying and at the time of death. While working with adults, a common theme was the desire to be "healed," and we would often discuss the differences between healing and curing. The truth is that I haven't seen a lot of "cures" in my life, although I have seen some. In my work, I've seen what would be considered miracle cures by the medical establishment: tumors evaporated from scans; bones, tendons and ligaments inexplicably knitted back together; addictions removed as if by magic; hearts, arteries and organs mysteriously restored as if brand new. But the truth is that most people I worked with in hospice still died from their illness-- they were not "cured." Yet scores of of them were healed in a deeper sense as their relationship to health, self, wholeness, family, friends and God was restored.
I have worked in healthcare (alternative and western medicine) for years. I have come to believe that you can be healed and not cured, just as you can be cured and not healed. Sometimes grace filters in like spiritual penicillin and we experience both. Healing can take place at many levels, many of which may not be recognized by a scan or a doctor or anyone else. But healing can take place nonetheless, often in invisible yet profoundly tangible ways...Relationships can be mended. Life traps can be worked though. Old patterns can be changed. New insights can be gained. Broken relationships and past hurts can be repaired and a new sense of peace can be found through the healing balms of forgiveness and acceptance. All of this can happen without any outward physical changes that would be marked as a "cure," yet there is no doubt healing has taken place. For some this may be spiritual, for some emotional, for some it is relational. Sometimes it is also physical, but for many people, that becomes the lesser of the healing they seek. Healing comes in many packages, all individualized and recognized internally, even if it is never seen by anyone else as physical "cure." Healing knows there are things worse than death, and sometimes what I want isn't always what I need.
When the World Health Organization was created in 1948, health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." True health is more than just the absence of disease and true health is not a luxury. True health is about living luxuriously, being present, whole and living in the fullness of life, of grace, of community, of hope and love.
The absence of disease does not necessarily imply wholeness, health or wellness. There is a word from the Greek called scotosis, which refers to intellectual blindness or a hardening of the heart and mind toward wisdom. Some theologians have expanded the meaning to include the concept of soul scarring. Many shamans and healers see this form of soul or psychic scarring as a condition which cannot be cured through standard western medicine, but which can be healed through soul retrievals or other methods. Sometimes those seeking a cure will fall into a form of scotosis, unable to see other possibilities, being so focused on the problem that they are unable to see beyond their immediate expectations into potential solutions. Healing takes us beyond expectations and into possibilities, into humor and gratitude, into what could be if we can let go of our ideas of what should be.
Curing is about expectations; healing is about possibilities. A "cure" is claimed by an authority in medicine when an offending invader or unwanted condition is successfully conquered through means of removal or suppression of symptoms. Healing may involve an acceptance of an ailment or a transformation of a condition which used to cause pain or suffering. Curing is about not wanting to carry the pain, but healing can be about letting the pain carry you, often into a new way of being, a change from suffering to allowing, receiving and moving forward. Healing sometimes involves embracing the pain and allowing it to transform you, as tattered and torn as your body and soul may feel in the moment. Curing asks, "what needs to be fixed?" Healing asks, "How can I grow? What can I celebrate?"
Merton said the more we try to avoid suffering, the more we suffer. Healing is about leaning into the suffering and finding the grace there, moving beyond questions about "why" and coming to understand that the source of your suffering can also be the source of your awakening. Zen teaches that the obstacle is also the path and without pain there is often no compassion. Healing is about letting go of old hurts so they let go of you, and using that pain as fuel to transform you. Healing is about forgiveness, about embracing the scars as part of the seams which sew you back together and bring you new life.
Healing knows that it sometimes hurts to let go, but sometimes it hurts even more to hold on. Healing is about taking the judgments, projections or expectations off of the situation and instead moving to a place of discovering your own capacity for life, hope and transformation. Cures are about fights, battles and comparisons-how you stack up to others, to the DSM or ICD-9, how it will be when this "problem" is cut off, away, out, removed or restored. We "fight the enemies" of depression, cancer and a myriad of other conditions, seeing them as outside of us, apart from us instead of a part of us. Healing is about gratitude for what is, about finding meaning in what underlies whatever is seeking healing, somehow knowing the thing you are seeking is probably the thing causing you to seek. Healing is about resilience, a capacity for life and all life brings without judgments or labels. Healing inevitably liberates something within us we didn't even know we had, and brings with it the power of creative transformation. Healing may even involve inviting the "enemy" in like a wise teacher, offering it a cup of tea and really sitting with it to see what this invader might be bringing to us.
Healing allows us to tap an inner resilience and trust the process. Healing can move us from old expectations to new possibilities, to a place still wet with the dew of dawning inner hopes and dreams suddenly transformed into realistic possibilities. Healing is about recognizing that life is meant to be lived and enjoyed, and just because you aren't sick it doesn't necessarily mean that you are well. Healing is about living life to the fullest and preventing dis-ease, but also not getting too worried about what the "experts" say because what is deemed healthy today may not be considered healthy tomorrow. Healing is about remembering that laughter is the best medicine and sometimes admitting that honestly, I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol anyway. And I'm just not spending my valuable life force fretting about it.
Doug Larsen says that life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. On the path to wholeness and healing, it's important to remember that if you rigidly resolve to be cured or to give up smoking, drinking and having some fun, you might not actually live longer, it might just seem longer. To quote George Bernard Shaw, "No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is made of fat. So without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office."
To your good health!
Terri Schanks, MSW, LCSW
Terri Schanks is a healer, teacher, writer and life coach based in St. Louis, MO. She is the owner of Blessings Enterprises, LLC and offers a nationwide healing practice. You can reach Terri directly at 314-646-1923, or through email at Terri@BlessingsEnterprises.com. You can learn more about Terri, Affirmative Life Coaching and other forms of healing at www.BlessingsEnterprises.com.
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Profile
"Full Recovery: Addiction, Inspiration & Abundance"
The Life of Brian McAlister
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"You are not old until your regrets replace your dreams."
Several months ago I had the pleasure of meeting author and motivational speaker, Brian McAlister. His energy was so infectious I asked if I could interview him for The Heroic Journal and he graciously agreed. After that, I read his book Full Recovery and realized his story was not going to be just another "drunk story" (as it is often described by recoverying people), but one that took his recovery to its full potential. In McAlister's excellent book, he actually takes the principles of Twelve Steps and applied them to his relationships, work, finances and dreams.
Whether you have ever struggled with a traditional addiction or not, most of us have found ourselves at times struggling with patterns of living that have us suffocating under the deadness of a life we have chosen. Anyone who wishes to live a resilient and vibrant life and move out of the situation where the vortex is sucking the life out of you, would do well to read his book.
Although McAlister has had great external success as an author, motivational speaker and even a position in the corporate world as a leader of 1,800 people of a half-billion dollar business, this external life of abundance did not just materialize. He had to make major changes internally before that was able to occur. His greatest success was about the internal changes that he made in his life.
Part of Brian's life story (some of it in the book) is about twenty years of a hell of his own choosing....two decades of REFUSING THE CALL to really live a life of abundance. Coming from a religious home and going to parochial schools did not keep him from launching into a life of severe drug and alcohol abuse and "self-will run riot." He described a life of utter selfishness and disregard for others - including his wife, child and even himself. As he lived recklessly riding his Harley (which he would park in their living room), in very deep debt, the herald calls he received centered around nearly dying in a motorcycle accident that had him life-flighted with serious head injury, multiple compound fractures and clinging to life.
One thing he had not lost, was the support of his family. During his lengthy hospital stay after the near fatal accident, the then self-proclaimed atheist (possibly only agnostic, he questioned) began to return to his spiritual roots and reached out to God to heal him.
His book is filled with so many wonderful nuggets, I want to suggest that he have a 365 day peel off calendar with many of the great snippets as reminders to us all to stay awake in life.
We do ourselves a disfavor by living lives of distraction which take us away from our "God-given purpose." Whether the distractions come in the form of drugs and alcohol, living from crisis to crisis, financial insecurity, bad decisions or chronic and toxic thinking, until we decide we want a different life, we will continue to get the life we CHOOSE.
"The word decision comes from the word decide, whose Latin root means to cut away."
What is it we need to cut away? Is it our lack of direction, our addictions and incessant worries are all of which batters our self-esteem, keeping us in that vortex of stuckness. Brian's view of adversity is important:
"Adversity is what propels human development. When faced with a challenge, you can choose where you want to direct your focus and how to respond to the situation...Welcome the adversity because it gets you thinking creatively about solving a perceived problem...your perceived problems are actually enormous opportunities for growth in disguise....you are experiencing your current reality because of the choices you have made and the choices you continue to make on a regular basis."
As McAlister looks at the 12-step model and incorporating it in a business model, he says that all businesses take inventory. In this (12 step) program, we are speaking about the business of life...your life. But we must face it.
"FEAR: Acronym - Face Everything and Recover"
"Fear reproduces itself like a virus. It is seductive and as habit forming as any drug."
Just as he had to do, as he found himself hospitalized on more than one occasion, McAlister decided he had to find someone who was successful at staying sober. Resilience is about recovery AND sustainability. He found that MENTOR voice (in Heroic Journey language), which he internalized. Then he opened himself to learning from others who were successful in whatever endeavor in life and put his ego out of the equation. With his ego out of the way, Brian was open to learn. He learned from people who were financially secure, he learned from people who had good relationships, he learned from people who were good leaders.
He found that the best way to get promoted was to help his boss get promoted, so rather than from a scarcity, dog-eat-dog mentality, he came to his success from the heart - a heart of service, caring and giving. Again, the ego puts things in right and wrong. With McAlister, he focused on what was in alignment with service.
So the former unemployable, alcoholic, drug-addict began to take responsibility by getting a $10 an hour job unloading trucks and stocking shelves. By listening to his new mentors and being of service, helping those in authority, he moved his way up the ranks within five years and found himself as district manager leading 1,800 employees. Part of that was completed by taking one of his "character defects" of stubbornness and turning it into tenacity.
We often look at some of the most difficult life events and have a judgment that they are bad. "Pain is the best friend of change." So when facing the most difficult situations, what meaning do you give to it? McAlister says, "if you're working in an environment you have outgrown...follow your dreams...if you don't, you will never be truly happy....All major religions speak of sin. The biggest sin of all is not fulfilling your God-given purpose."
"Nothing has any meaning but the meaning you give it."
What types of thoughts or questions direct your life? What is it that you want in your life? Focus on the why (often about love, service, giving) as opposed to the how (that can overwhelm). With no goal, there will be no success. Success (in any part of our lives) is built one day at a time and requires actions. When making a difficult decision, ask yourself, "Would I take this action if I were fearless?"
McAlister reminds us it is never too late to ANSWER OUR CALL in life, no matter what that call may be. A perceived problem that many face, currently, is "Will I be able to live in on my retirement?" Did you know that "Colonel" Harlan Sanders, of the KFC chicken empire did not even begin his business until after he retired from the United States Postal Service? (Note: KFC makes.....)
The real story of Brian McAlister is a heroic one. As he answered the difficult calls in life, weathered the INITIATION PHASE and the DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL time, he not only returned to his authentic life, but in the process returned to serve others to find theirs.
If you would like to read more of Brian's words, hear him speak, you may contact him through.
www.full-recovery.com
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Healing & Curing Quotes
"Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat and worry with laughter at your predicaments, thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously."
(Og Mandino)
"People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that's bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they're afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you're letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain." (Jim Morrison)
I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open and never close again
to the rest of the world.
(Mary Oliver)
I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being. (Hafiz)
If you want to know what you were conditioned to believe as a child, look at how you treat yourself now. (Cheri Huber)
"Of one thing I am certain, the body is not the measure of healing - peace is the measure" (George Melton)
When I approach everything as an opportunity to heal, there is nothing that will not be available to me. (Cheri Huber)
"I have found the paradox that when you love until it hurts, there is no more hurt, but only more love." (Mother Teresa)
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." -- Ezekiel 36:26
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Seminar Corner
Need Continuing Education Hours? Social
workers, nurses, nurse practitioners, drug and alcohol counselors,
pastoral counselors, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, marriage
and family therapists and MORE may be eligible for CE's with these two
seminars.
The Psychology of Resilience:
A
Multi-Modal Approach to Thriving Using the Heroic Journey
will be
presented in a full-day format in these cities in the United States in
the upcoming months. Coming soon in CE self-study.
June 9, 2010 - Fresno, CA June 10, 2010 - San Jose, CA June 11, 2010 - San Francisco, CA June 23, 2010 - Oakland, CA June 24, 2010 - Folsom (Sacramento), CA
July 14, 2010 - Springfield, MO
July 15, 2010 - Tulsa, OK
July 16, 2010 - Oklahoma City, OK
New Seminar
Three
Stages of Healing:
Trauma Conversion and Resilience
A
brand new seminar which combines elements of moving through all types of
traumatic events (such as child abuse, combat, complicated grief,
accidents, traumatic death, devastating illness and more) from Victim
functioning to Thriver functioning as well as a look at the essential
clinical needs of individuals and families to heal fully after
heart-wrenching life events.
Cities to be announced in the June newsletter. CEU's for professionals
will be available.
August 4, 2010 - Cheyenne, WY
August 5, 2010 - Denver, CO
August 6, 2010 - Salt Lake City, UT
Three Stages of Healing:
Counseling Victims of Sexual Trauma
6 hour, self-study, with 150+ page manual, CDs
and assessment - CE's available
For more information on location,
registration and course content for any of these seminars, you may
upload a brochure at www.theomnibuscenter.com (Go to 2010 schedule and click on
the city link) or contact Cross Country Education 1-800-397-0180 for more information www.crosscountryeducation.com
Seminars on Resilience and the Heroic
Journey are available in half day, full-day and multiple day formats for
clinicians, the general public, businesses, places of worship and
community groups. Please contact Melissa (Missy) Bradley for more
information call 615-377-6002 or MelissaBradley@theomnibuscenter.com
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| Stories and Articles coming soon! | |
In the coming months, we are honored to have many stories of resilience.
Coming soon:
"Finding Life After the Holocaust"
"The Power of the Work Team: Supporting One Another To Reach the Pinnacle"
"The Journey to Self Through Abuse and Divorce"
" An Adventure Into the Alaskan Wilderness in 1953" - Author & Adventurer, Harriet Walker
"From Sharecropper's Son to the Fortune 500: A Story About Jim Clayton"
"The 20% Cancer Thriver" |
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| The Heroic Journal Newsletter | 
Visit "The Omnibus Center" on Facebook
to see a collection of dynamic inspirational videos and songs For more information, to submit stories or make an appointment:MelissaBradley@theomnibuscenter.com615-377-6002 |
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