Thoughts . . .

Week of January 10-16, 1999 - Vol. 2, No. 2

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our fathers have done them or our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a larger part than what we suspect of what we think"
--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., (1841-1935) American jurist

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

We are creatures of habit. We develop our opinions usually based on what people told us or through our experiences. This is a natural and necessary part of the learning process. But when these beliefs become set and we carry them into the present--without looking at things from a fresh viewpoint--we become robots of our thoughts. We think we know how a certain thing is suppose to be and that's it! Growth stops. How do we overcome this? Reexamining everything we encounter in our daily journeys would not be realistic or possible. After all, we learned that fire burns and we do not need to explore the pain of this event. However, significant events in our lives can expand our horizons and enrich us if we look at them through new eyes. Take events dealing with relationships. Do we react to a person because of something we heard about that person? Do we pass judgments because someone told us long ago that is how we should treat "those people?" What about our reaction to health issues? Do we believe new fads because someone told us about them? Do we neglect our nutrition because we have always eaten certain foods and that's just the way it is? And our beliefs? Do we believe a certain way because "they" told us to believe that way, or have we explored the inner realms of our being, knocked down the walls of preconceived ideas, prejudice and bias, and in doing so came to our own conclusions about the deep mysteries of life?

Open the portals of your mind and heart and be willing to look at people and life from a different position--one not hampered by the walls and chains of prior actions and beliefs. Real growth is within our reach.