DECISIONS, DECISIONS. THE SMORGASBOARD OF OPTIONS. FAMILY, CAREER, HEALTH, BUT THEN, WHAT AND HOW, COME NEXT. (Part 1 of 8)

Antréa Ferguson, MSPH Shanee Moret Dr. Ed Leshin Allison Lane Michelle Trieste

I have written about some of the events which helped chart my direction in life. Events which have enriched and guided my thinking. Along this journey I have been privileged to have experienced things which border on the paranormal as well as the mundane routine of common issues which we all face daily.

I have chosen the title today for this newletter because whether we acknowledge it or not we are all faced with several choices in our lives. Sometimes we make a choice without really thinking things through and the consequences can be very positive, or, absolutely the contrary.

In the wheel of life where we can see each of at least 8 segments as part of a wheel divided by the spokes, we can then categorize by importance and urgency components such as, health, family career, finances, fitness, community, spirituality, recreation. This journey is the common denominator for everyone. It is up to us to ensure that each wedge of the wheel is in harmony for the wheel to roll smoothely. If one or more of the wedges are out of sync, then the wheel will be out of balance and affect all other parts of the wheel or aspect of our lives.

In my opionion, everything starts with our attitude and that is a result of many prior actions which lead us to think in a certain way. Our emotional direction is stimulated by our attitude. So today I will begin with the subject of humility which is the cornerstone and foundation of my attitude. In 1986 when I was in my early 40s, at the height of my career, I was almost obessessed with trying to understand the how and why things happen. I wanted to understand some of the esoteric aspects of my life. We all experience "coincidences" for which we have no explanation. We have all been surprised that at some time we have been thinking about someone and "coincidentally" they call. We often have "gut feelings" about something. Sometimes we have "premonitions" about things which we believe will happen. These are all esoteric aspects which we generally don't understand but which we are led to believe are true. So I embarked on exploring the unknown, intangible aspects of these emotions and feelings. I joined a group of about 20 "seekers" who all had a common goal, to understand what we could not explain. This was a three year venture in exploring the connection between the mind, the body and nature. I devoured many books by Tibetan monks, Japanese medicine men and Indian gurus, Thai buddhists and many western thinkers who "coincidentally" came to similar conclusions in their journeys. I really wanted to understand what I knew to be true. The first year I had to practice getting in "touch with myself and nature". By the way much of what I learned comes from the Bible, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Ayurveda, and many more teachings are more of a philosophy and way of thinking than expressed dogma.

Sometime during this journey of 3 years I became aware of strange and exciting episodes which at first concerned me and which I later learned to embrace and love. I learned to "feel" certain emotions which were manifesting in the person I was talking to. Usually these were emotional pains. Always asking for permission, I would be promted to tell someone something which I was "feeling". Usually something which only they would know about. Often a solution to some issue they might be facing. Obviously this would cause a huge surprise and an emotional response. "How did you know that?" "Nobody knows." Eventually I was able to physically "feel" the pain which someone may be having. I may feel a pain in my knee and look around and see a person on crutches somewhere behind me.

For now I just want to refer to some events which have led me to be extremely humble which reflects on my attitude. I reference a couple of events to explain what i am saying. One day a Brigadier General came to see me and said" I am here because my daughter said you helped heal her" I immediately said absolutely not. I cannot do that. He said, anyway, I told her I would come even though I think this is mumbo jumbo. He was suffering from very serious rheumatoid arthritis and could only bend his elbows, could not open his hands even to button his shirt. I told him we would do four sessions of 1 hour each. After the first session he came back and told me that coincidentally he had slept without pain for the first time in a long time. After the second session he was able to move his pinky finger. During the third session he began to cry, moved to a fetal position, saying "daddy don't do this to me please, daddy stop, I hate you touching me this way". When we had finished he asked me what happened. I said, "you tell me". "I have never told anyone about this he said, not my wife, my kids or anyone. My father was a very stern military man of the old school. I was regularly beaten and molested". Boys don't cry was his father's standard answer. After the fourth session he went to London for Christmas and on his return showed me his backstroke motions which were completely pain free and fluid. Years later I was reading a book by Larry Dossy MD, who talked about men having more severe arthritis than women because, men don't cry......An important event making me very humble in being able to help in such a profound problem. My lessons in empathy, personal growth and humility are evident every day. Be open and ureserved to learning.

For anyone interested I will be having some courses on this subject beginning in June.

#coincidences #wheeloflife #humility #choices #personalgrowth #empathy