"EMOTIONAL SUICIDE" - ARE WE “DEAD” OR CHOOSING LIFE?

Wow, you might think -- how can someone post such a bizarre question? "Look, I'm breathing!" Sure, we can acknowledge that someone is breathing. But let's take this one step further and hypothesize -- what does it mean to have died? Okay, there is physical death -- where the body ceases to function, breathing does stops, the heart shuts down and brain waves are no longer detected. I am going to suggest there is yet another kind of death (more subtle, but no less significant), which can be often detected by lack of direction, lack of passion, lack of curiosity, lack of caring, lack of joy. It is so common that it often goes undetected. What's fascinating is that we do it to ourselves. We're not being "unkind" to ourselves; we're actually endeavoring to take care of ourselves by disengaging inside with the people and/or circumstances on the outside (family, friends, jobs). The fascinating aspect of this kind of death is the masquerade we maintain at the same time...we hedge, we appear interested and caring (eyes and ears are open, but we see and hear very little, because our thoughts are elsewhere). What's useful is our self-knowledge: we know we really don't care inside, and just keep it a secret. Why would we do such a thing? Great question. We do it to distance ourselves from the internal distress of wanting, and not getting, from the pain of dreaming, and not doing. What's the remedy? Choosing to believe we're enough, and loving all of who we are right now would definitely begin to lift the cloud. We can always re-start the "alive" motor, provided we are willing to be aware (self-aware) and acknowledge (take ownership of what we are doing) when we turn ourselves off so profoundly. We have smothered our spirit to be curious, embracing, loving and grateful. What's exciting is that if we are still breathing, there is more to do, and we can change. However, some of us get so good at smothering our spirits that our bodies get extinguished at the same time. We could say that this style of socially-acceptable, EMOTIONAL SUICIDE has definite physiological ramifications. We had the best class on this subject in one of our Wide Awake Program classes at the Option Institute. Choosing to be ALIVE and/or choosing to be dead to our feelings and what we want. Have fun with this subject...yes, yes, I am suggesting that we be playful, not self-incriminating, when we view and challenge ourselves...just as we do as the teachers and students gather on our campus to reawaken our spirits to live life big and TRAIN OURSELVES TO BE HAPPY (translation: FULLY AWAKE AND FULLY ALIVE).

Reawaken your spirit at ReNEW YOU on the Option Institute campus August 19-24, 2018, http://www.option.org/programs/renew-you/