KINDLE THE FIRE WITHIN

BEYOND THE COMFORT ZONE

Rewards await
those willing to
reach

beyond, beneath, below,
deep down, higher and higher,
over and under, out and within, and
over and over again and again.

Lula Morton Drewes
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
and Wellness Coach


LEARNING TO REACH
BEYOND THE COMFORT ZONE:
A WELLNESS PROGRAM

Answers to life’s puzzles and problems are as certain as the gold buried deep within the earth. Yet, just as golden nuggets seldom fall into our laps, finding solutions to life’s perplexing questions and problems requires work - digging, searching, reaching. With the “pain” of effort, however, comes “gain”. Like the miner who, with practice, learns more and more how to spot and mine for treasures, people too can learn to better tap the treasures within themselves and in the outside world which hold the answers to their search for greater personal peace and power.



KINDLE THE FIRE WITHIN
by Lula Morton Drewes, Ph.D.

Achieve greater peace and power by learning to reach deeper within yourself for greater self awareness, self control and self direction.

In times of crises like the California fires, people often rise to their best as they reach out to their fellow humans with compassion and assistance. As I have followed this tragedy, I have also recognized this as an excellent opportunity for some self reflection. In the process, I have realized, yet again, how easy it often is to reach out to others with advice and assistance than it is to look within. The push to look within, however, provided me with some needed reminders.

Taking some time to reflect on my own behavior in response to the fires, I realized how obsessed I generally become with major catastrophic events. It is my work, yes, to help people cope with various crises, but I recognized how personal, too personal, it sometimes becomes. I awake with the event, I eat with it, I take it as a companion during the day and I sleep with it. It is as if I consume full responsibility and constantly analyze political, financial and personal implications. Such times are the only times that I watch TV in the morning. It becomes as spontaneous as brushing my teeth. Being on the east coast, I was beating the California reporters to the job, and the stress was showing. The smoke from the flames was casting a thick shadow over my day. After my daughter switched the channel to cartoons multiple times, I finally realized something that I had been teaching others for years – “an observer of abuse is a victim of abuse”.

With my obsessive viewing of the coverage of the California fires, I was choosing a sort of victimization. I was doing what Roger Mellott calls “swallowing steel marbles”. (Career Track audio tape MCMLXXXV: Stress Management for Professionals); I was making the choice to ingest pain and suffering all day. No wonder I felt heavier and heavier. My “Reach Challenge” was as simple as resisting to reach for the remote control. I needed to establish greater emotional distance, and to look for more proactive reactions to this disaster. A current TV commercial by the Kentucky government reminds us that as we sit passively observing the California fires from the comfort and distance of our homes, many of us remain completely unprepared for the natural disasters which seem to be occurring more frequently.


A Reach Challenge

Reach beyond your comfort zone. Reach beyond what comes easy and automatic to look deeper within. What would a gentle, nonjudgmental look at your thoughts and feelings regarding these catastrophic California fires show? What can you learn about yourself? What challenges face you and your family. For example, what values would guide your response to a sudden evacuation command? Are they the values you live by day-for-day? How prepared are you for a potential natural disaster?

According to Life Coach, Cheryl Richardson (1999), there is within each person a wealth of deep inner wisdom waiting to be tapped. In her book, “The Value of Journaling”, she points to an intimate relationship with oneself as the essential component of a life of purpose and passion. Awareness and understanding of the self provide a more solid basis for life choices and management. As with finding other treasures, the key to discovering ones inner wisdom is to cultivate the practice of reaching beyond what has become automatic and easy. One way to do this would be to work at creating the practice of “sitting silently with self”. According to Richardson, a private journal provides a valuable tool for developing a solid relationship with oneself, and for practicing relying on ones own inner wisdom. The process of writing about ones inner thoughts and feelings increases the ability for self reflection and understanding, and opens the door to guidance by what Richardson refers to as “the voice of the soul”.

Reach For Words Of Wisdom

Our fast-paced, adrenaline-based culture will trap you into
believing that you’ll finally be able to relax once you make
that one last phone call, finish one more task, or respond to
one more e-mail. But before you know it, you’re on overload
and your body can’t seem to slow down. I’ve been fooled by
this myth too, and because of that, I’ve trained myself to Stop, Look, and Listen.

Cheryl Richardson (1999)
Take Time for your Life


Reach To Believe:

Something wonderful is about to happen!!!!!!
Belleruth Naprastek

Audiotape: Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus
Time Warner Audiobooks

Wishing you peace and power, and the courage to reach!!!

Lula Morton Drewes, Ph.D.












(c) Copyright 2007. Lula Morton Drewes, Ph.D. All rights reserved.