Problem: When our personal growth program doesn’t work for us February 18, 2018
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Personal Development Potential.Tags: inspiration, life, personal growth, personal growth program, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, self-awareness, writing
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One of the problems we may face at some point in our self-actualization efforts is finding ourselves struggling with a system or program that just doesn’t seem to work for us, but we feel we’ve invested so much time in it that we’re reluctant to give up on it.
The first thing we need to realize is that, if we have genuinely worked at the system, the fault is not likely ours.
Remember, the reason there are so many different approaches to personal development and self-improvement is because no one system is suitable for everybody.
Each of us has a unique world view and value system and we should not expect these programs to enable cookie-cutter solutions to the problems and challenges in our lives.
Putting more and more effort into a self-help program that simply isn’t suitable for our personality is a bad investment of our time, energy, and ultimately our life.
And, we’ve all probably learned more than we realize — even from a growth program that doesn’t work well for us.
We should then consider cutting our time-investment losses, regard our past efforts as a good learning experience, and move on to new experiences in our self-awareness discovery journey.
— Dennis Mellersh
Personal growth: The ancient Masters of self-actualization February 17, 2018
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Tao Te Ching.Tags: inspiration, Lao-tzu, life, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, self-awareness, self-improvement, writing
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The Tao Te Ching, in Stephen Mitchell’s translation/interpretation, observes that the wisdom/behaviour of the ancient Masters was so deep and subtle that it defies detailed analysis and can only be described by images and allusions referencing appearances.
Consider this selection from Section 15:
They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-over stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water. (1)
When you look at these personal characteristics, they could be an effective guide to personal development goals stated in just seven lines of poetic images.
(1) Stephen Mitchell, Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, HarperPerennial, a Division of HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 1991
— Dennis Mellersh
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