In As Much As it Depends Upon Me ....

Thoughts from my evening meditation on the lake ....

We are very clear that the Radical Remission Project finds an audience in all people - all religions ... creeds ... nationalities ... world views ... But just as a personal aside ... many of you know that I come from a Christian world view so you may see hints of that in my writing. One of my favorite bible verses goes like this: "In as much as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men .." I love this verse for so many reasons.

First, it acknowledges that there are things we control .. and things we absolutely do not control. "In as much as it depends upon you ..." The sooner we learn to differentiate between the two in our own lives, the better we will be. Far too often we fret .. worry ... obsess ... over the things we cannot control - things out of our purview. How many times have you found yourself stewing over something someone said ... or did ... that was hurtful or insensitive?? We have all done it .. The problem is .. we spend so much time .. and at the end of our stew-fest, nothing has changed. We have wasted time - and the negative emotions we created have a detrimental effect on our biology for sure.

Second, it reminds us that we DO control those things in our purview. In my example, we cannot control what was said or what was done ... but we CAN control how we respond to it. Ultimately, we decide whether we take it personally and obsess for hours ... or...... accept it for what it is ... a casual remark from someone who perhaps doesn't know better or maybe comes from a place of pain (it is said that hurting people hurt people). When we can accept that other people's behavior is not a reflection of us ... but rather a reflection of them, we can begin to separate what is and isn't in our domain.

Finally, it acknowledges that sometimes we just need to walk away. Sometimes, no matter what we do or how hard we try, it will be impossible to "be at peace with all men.." In fact, it is possible that we will never be at peace with some of the nearest and dearest people in our lives. And that's ok. So much of what is said and done in this world has absolutely nothing to do with us. Even though at times the words or deeds are directed at us. The challenge is to know when it's time to stop trying - when the stress of the impossible is adversely affecting our health.

Friends .. let us seek to differentiate - those things we control from those things we don't. And let us find a way to love ourselves enough to never allow those things we do not control to derail us.... to derail our positive thoughts ... our daily peace ... our hope for the future .... our fight for wellness.

Our healing .. our wellness ... that is OUR journey and our journey alone. The sooner we learn to protect it and become our own best advocate and protector, the better off we will be ...

Blessings ......