Our group opened by reading Phillip Chard's recent article:
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Various statements from our group relating to this article:
Being tired spirituality means your sense of purpose is gone. Just like body and mind, the spirit can grow weary. Renewing purpose can renew the spirit.
There is Rumi poem some have entitled Moses and the Shepherd which advises how to achieve this. It can be read in entirety at this link: http://elizaphanian.blogspot.com/2006/03/moses-and-shepherd-rumi.html
Some people began talking about depression -- How most people don't understand depression at its suicidal depths.
Paul told the story of Brooks Robinson who was one of the best catchers in baseball ever. But he had 224 errors. If these were put on film back to back there would be about 2 hours of errors. If you watched this film you would be convinced that he was the most bumbling of baseball players. Our mind odes this. It will pick our all the "errors."
One way to improve a sad mood, or even to treat mild depression is to brainstorm all the bad labels you were called in school, by teachers, by other adults in authority and by bullies and other classmates. A severely depressed person would not be able to do this, but for some people this task might actually convince them that such a negative perspective could not be true.
Again someone referenced the commencement address of David Foster Wallace, given to the Stanford graduating class in 2009. It is a wonderful motivational speech. A links here plays the entire speech in two different parts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5THXa_H_N8 This is the most well known part of the speech.
The news media had just released the last words that Steve Jobs had spoken a short time before he died. They were witnessed by his sister Mona Simpson. She reported that "before embarking, he'd looked at his sister patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life's partner, Laurene and then over their shoulders past them. It was at this time that he said, "Oh, Wow. Oh Wow, Oh Wow. Clearly we would all like to believe that he saw or heard or felt something then that was supernatural, perhaps the proverbial beauty of the pearly gates, or perhaps he suddenly had a vision of it all and finally understood and knew the answers to the questions we all are seeking during our journey here on this globe. We don't know what the words meant nor will we ever know. There are all sorts of possible perspectives but again we will believe what we are most comfortable with.
One member of the group recalled a movie entitle "Waking Ned Devine." It tells the story of a fellow who is pretending to be someone else and through the machinations of the plot, he hears is own eulogy. It was recommended as an entertaining movie.
Certainly the discussion on this date "covered the breadth of existentialist dilemma -- a discussion of death, aloneness, purpose and responsibility. Through all of this we do have choices.
Rediscovering purpose relights inner fire
"I'm just tired," Tom told me, his eyes dull and distant.
When I asked if he'd had a medical evaluation, he nodded and replied, "It's not that kind of tired."
Looking down at his hands, Tom pondered his situation, then raised his head and said, "It's spiritual."
Tom is a divorced dad of three adult children who is nearing the finish line of his career. Generally regarded as energetic, creative and a lifelong learner, he has gradually felt his élan vital slip away like water slowly leaking out of a rusty bucket.
"Didn't notice it at first," he continued. "Just figured I was run down physically or in need of some R&R, but when it went from weeks to months, I figured there was more to it."
After his family doc sounded the "all clear," he decided to take stock of himself and his life. Visiting with a life coach and then a psychotherapist, he considered depression and burnout as the culprits, but none of these quite fit what he was experiencing.
"I know what it feels like to be down in the dumps or stressed out, but this is different," he explained.
What Tom had lost was his inner "fire," that intrinsic power that keeps one engaged with others, one's work and life in general.
And what was left in the gaping mental hole left by its departure is what I call "existential fatigue."
Tom defined that best when he said, "I guess I have a weary soul."
What we call "the human spirit" is interwoven with the will to live, not just in a survival sense, but also in an existential one.
So the opposite of Tom's spiritual exhaustion is a state of feeling fully alive and finding purposeful meaning in one's existence.
This isn't a state one can create simply by being physically healthy, mentally sharp and emotionally balanced, although these certainly help. Rather, it requires cultivating an intrinsic sense of purpose and meaning - essentially, knowing in a heartfelt way why one is here and what purposes one has been called to serve.
Earlier in life, many of us are fired up by extrinsic goals - achievement, money, fame, career, etc. But as one ages, these external rewards can lose their attraction, creating a motivational vacuum that must be filled from within, not from the outside.
But when Tom went searching for his sense of meaning and purpose, he couldn't find it. He'd reached a juncture where he no longer knew what brought his life meaning, leaving him bereft of a clear sense of purpose.
I suggested a series of visioning quests - one in wilderness, one to the small town of his childhood, and another at a retreat center. Also, he learned mindfulness meditation and began piano lessons, a long-held aspiration.
Gradually, his soul reawakened and began to whisper, nudging him back out of himself and into the world of people and experiences.
The energy created by reconnecting with meaningful moments and purposeful activity reignited him as a human being.
Like the body and mind, the spirit can grow weary.
Meaning and purpose make it glow once again.
Philip Chard is a psychotherapist, author and trainer. Names used in this column are changed to honor client confidentiality. Email him at pschard@earthlink.net or visit philipchard.com.
There is more: Hit Read More
Various statements from our group relating to this article:
Being tired spirituality means your sense of purpose is gone. Just like body and mind, the spirit can grow weary. Renewing purpose can renew the spirit.
There is Rumi poem some have entitled Moses and the Shepherd which advises how to achieve this. It can be read in entirety at this link: http://elizaphanian.blogspot.com/2006/03/moses-and-shepherd-rumi.html
Some people began talking about depression -- How most people don't understand depression at its suicidal depths.
Paul told the story of Brooks Robinson who was one of the best catchers in baseball ever. But he had 224 errors. If these were put on film back to back there would be about 2 hours of errors. If you watched this film you would be convinced that he was the most bumbling of baseball players. Our mind odes this. It will pick our all the "errors."
One way to improve a sad mood, or even to treat mild depression is to brainstorm all the bad labels you were called in school, by teachers, by other adults in authority and by bullies and other classmates. A severely depressed person would not be able to do this, but for some people this task might actually convince them that such a negative perspective could not be true.
Again someone referenced the commencement address of David Foster Wallace, given to the Stanford graduating class in 2009. It is a wonderful motivational speech. A links here plays the entire speech in two different parts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5THXa_H_N8 This is the most well known part of the speech.
The news media had just released the last words that Steve Jobs had spoken a short time before he died. They were witnessed by his sister Mona Simpson. She reported that "before embarking, he'd looked at his sister patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life's partner, Laurene and then over their shoulders past them. It was at this time that he said, "Oh, Wow. Oh Wow, Oh Wow. Clearly we would all like to believe that he saw or heard or felt something then that was supernatural, perhaps the proverbial beauty of the pearly gates, or perhaps he suddenly had a vision of it all and finally understood and knew the answers to the questions we all are seeking during our journey here on this globe. We don't know what the words meant nor will we ever know. There are all sorts of possible perspectives but again we will believe what we are most comfortable with.
One member of the group recalled a movie entitle "Waking Ned Devine." It tells the story of a fellow who is pretending to be someone else and through the machinations of the plot, he hears is own eulogy. It was recommended as an entertaining movie.
Certainly the discussion on this date "covered the breadth of existentialist dilemma -- a discussion of death, aloneness, purpose and responsibility. Through all of this we do have choices.
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