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Personal development: Trusting our natural abilities April 21, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Concept of personal growth.
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The concept of personal growth does not necessarily mean that we have to improve virtually every area of our lives and personalities.

Each of us unique talents and abilities, and these strengths may be solid enough, without significant improvement, to serve as a strong foundation for our overall program.

A few examples of innate strengths

  • We may have a strong sense of compassion, a quality which can help us in our efforts to build better relationships
  • Our self-knowledge may already be well developed, and we can use this attribute to help us make decisions on which of our personality characteristics may need more work
  • If we have good self-esteem we have an effective tool to help us avoid discouragement with the inevitable slow spots or bumps in our self-improvement efforts
  • If we are analytical and logical in our approach to problems, we can use this characteristic in the difficult challenge of learning to manage our emotions
  • If we have a strong sense of purpose, we can use that skill to better identify goals and be consistent in our pursuit of achieving them

To move forward with energy in our self-actualization efforts, we should trust in these collective capabilities because, combined with a positive mental outlook, they can help us achieve success.

Don Juan Matus, in one of his “conversations” with Carlos Castaneda commented, “Trust your personal power. That’s all one has in this whole mysterious world.”

Then speaking of the warrior class, he added, “A warrior is impeccable when he trusts his personal power regardless of whether it is small or enormous.” (1)

(1) Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan, Carlos Castaneda,  Washington Square Press, Pocket Books, New York, 1974, pp. 167-168

 

Personal growth and the dangers of life’s routines March 20, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Personal Growth Books.
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One of the more pronounced areas of focus in personal development literature is habits: the need to reduce, minimize or eliminate bad or non-helpful habits; and the desirability of developing good habits.

We are told that if we want to help ourselves achieve progress in our human journey, attention must be paid to habits.

An interesting question is whether a good or seemingly harmless habit or routine could be undesirable or harmful.

There is an interesting take on this speculation in Carlos Castaneda’s book, Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan* in which Castaneda relates a conversation with don Juan Matus, a Yaqui sorcerer.

In a chapter entitled Disrupting the Routines of Life, don Juan discussed the importance of not having predictable routines, because such predictability can weaken us.

Don Juan uses the analogy of  a deer being hunted, and says that there are certain types of deer that are very rarely  caught or even seen  by hunters or animal predators.

“What do you think makes them so difficult to find?” don Juan asked.

Answer: “They have no routines. That’s what makes them magical.”

The implication is that if a deer came the to  the same water hole every day, or habitually slept in the same place, its routines would make it an easy target for predators, who would rely on the deer’s habits or routines in in order to kill it.

Perhaps less dramatic analogies could be made with our own personal habits or routines.

Something to think about.

* Note:

Castaneda wrote three major books which involve extensive “conversations” with don Juan Matus:

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge  

Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan

A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan.

There is some question among anthropological students and scholars as to whether don Juan Matus was an actual person or a composite personality Castaneda created, based on his anthropological research and knowledge of Mexican first peoples.

A Wikipedia article about Carlos Castaneda explores this in some detail