In Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted (2002), I found myself drawn to three chapters. These included: A “Dee Dah Day,” An Unhurried Life, and A Life of Freedom. As I read the chapters, I found they each one seemed to build on the other. Ortberg (2002) described how to focus on the little things that bring joy to your life, slow down and appreciate the beauty in God’s work, and live your life in a manner where you seek only to follow in Jesus’ footsteps as opposed to being addicted to the approval of others. In chapter 4, Ortberg (2002) talks about how his child finds joy in little moments. This is something that came easy for me as a child, but as I’ve grown older, I find it does not come as easily. Ortberg describes this as the “illusion …show more content…
I agree with Ortberg when he stated the dangers we are most vulnerable to are the “ones that creep up on us, that are so much a part of our environment that we don’t even notice them” (Ortberg, 2002, pp. 85). I’ve found this to be true in my life. When I am honest with myself, I realize that I have become so “busy” and “stressed out” because I am trying to run away from the real problem that I need to face. Sometimes this is fear for a loved one but more often than not, it is fear of failure or not being good enough. My habits tend to be that I will go for three or four months before it hits me that I need to take some time for reflection. I generally take between 2-5 days to get away to a quiet place (generally either the lake or my grandparent’s farm) to be alone with my thoughts and prayers. Ortberg suggests combining “brief periods of solitude on a regular basis- preferably each day, even at intervals during the day. But we also need extended periods of solitude” (Ortberg, 2002, pp. 87). After reading this, I’ve determined that I need to begin my day with intentional quiet time, as well as find a time during the day to step away for 10-15 minutes to pray and recharge. This time has now been set aside in my work schedule to be at …show more content…
As I read this chapter, I reflected on the many changes I have made over the past year in realizing that God’s grace in my life does not require the approval of others. It does not require me to be perfect or meet external standards. Orberg talks about the “imposter phenomenon,” which is when we know the image we project is incongruent with who we really are. This causes “many people to go through life with a lurking fear that one day the truth will come out” (Ortberg, 2002, pp. 167). I have felt this way for quite sometime until a year ago when I realized that much of the anxiety I was experiencing was due to not being true to myself. I am flawed and that is ok. I appreciate the explanation Ortberg gives of doing something good and trying to make sure no one finds out about it, as that is a practice I have started to implement. In reading this chapter, I realize that I need to be more involved in praying for God to show me ways daily that I can find ways to bless someones life on a daily basis without them knowing. I also plan to implement the “secret service day” where I have “no agenda of my own but to simply be home and available” (Ortberg, 2002, 170). By finding ways to celebrate joy, slow down, and practice secret
that one characteristic of an illusion comes from the wishes of humans and comes close to
...is seems to line up well with the serenity prayer: “Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Our task as humans is to discern these wills in our lives and separate them. We must not become embittered, but rather empowered, clinging to the knowledge that there is an ever-benevolent God constantly working for our good, and that he always has a plan for us amidst trial presented by life on earth. In order to discern this will though, we have to be on the lookout for it with an awareness of its separateness from our own fears and desires. This discernment is also difficult because of our limited perspectives as humans, and thus we need humility in our search. The most important thing, however, is the search itself: we must all continue to search for the will.
Warren, Richard. The Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.
illusion is the belief that material wealth alone can bring that dream to fruition. Through Gatsby,
Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective
Overall, the real question in the end after reflection, inquiry, and acknowledgement is whether I, or any other, can choose to trust in God. Will we choose to rise above our insecurities and habits, and do what promotes justice? Will we have the “courage to be” during this difficult realization, and the courage to choose God over ourselves? If, and when we do, we will realize the only thing more important than our insecurities are the people God tells us to call our brothers, and sisters in our greater community.
Without practicing meditation, we do not reflect on or pay attention to our everyday actions, mostly acting on habit. The world is full of defilements and everyday we are infatuated by them, sensual desires, and delusion, although we often do not know it. Meditation weakens these unwholesome temptations and desires by making us aware that they are arising, and by revealing that they are truly unwholesome. The temptation only ceases when the concentration we obtain from meditation results in greater happiness than sensual pleasures can ever provide. While the satisfaction gained from sensual pleasures is fleeting, the clarified, focused state of mind of the meditator accumulates into a constant tranquil state. Only when we have stilled the mind’s incessant wandering and momentarily abandon the attraction to sensory experiences can we become truly aware of our hidden motivations and unconscious feelings that shape our thoughts and behavior. It is also necessary for changing our views of the world and ourselves. Through confronting these delusions, desires, and feelings we are able to renounce them. “During meditation we learn to drop from the mind what we don’t want to keep. We only want to keep in mind the meditation subject. As we get more and more skilled at it, we start to use the same faculty in our daily lives to help us drop thoughts that are
Without perception, in our illusions and hallucinations, we lose “our sense of beings,” (Capra). Lost in “isolation,” (Capra) perhaps lost within our own illusion, our abstractions, we lose the ability to judge, to dichotomize, reality from illusions, right from wrong.
In fact, a good life coach can help you come with ways to relax and take some time for yourself so you don't succumb to stress.
If “teaching meditation or techniques of flexible, novel thinking…could be used to improve health and shorted illness earlier in life,” the lives of many individuals would drastically improve (Langer, 2014). Mindfulness encourages awareness and creative thought while providing the added benefits of improved health. For example, individuals who suffer from a great deal of stress on a daily basis may profit from the addition of meditation to their daily routine. Not only will this help them in the short term, but Langer also suggests that this strategy will improve health in the long term as well. People can use the mindfulness skill to help themselves cope with everyday stressors through meditation techniques and critical
The theme of illusion is depicted in the short story through Dexter Green’s change in thought process when it comes to Judy
... growth where a child is forced to start looking for solutions for everything that is wrong instead of simply being a child. This analysis prove that children have their own way of seeing things and interpreting them. Their defense mechanisms allow them to live through hard and difficult times by creating jokes and games out of the real situation. This enables then to escape the difficulties of the real world.
In the eyes of a child, there is joy, there is laughter. But as time ages us, as soon as we flowered and became grown-ups the child inside us all fades that we forget that once, we were a child.
Attention Getter: Life is like a huge roller coaster, a journey full of twists and turns, and ups and downs. And sometimes in this journey there arises various situations where one is unable to deal with these turns, let alone have the energy to face the ups and downs. In situations when the downward spiral becomes difficult to overcome it seems to linger on and on. The major cause of such feelings, are the chaotic activities of life. Stress is no stranger to our daily life. Stress in its severer form can lead to everything that we care about and love become strained and puts a burden on our physical and mental health. Therefore, we must take a hold of our stress, hang on to life and practice helpful techniques to vanish these stressful dilemmas. When we understand our situation, the better we will be able to get through them with ease.