Friday, August 04, 2006

Spiritual edge...and Mel Gibson

The previous writing looked at the Lebanese/Israeli conflict in relation to their spiritual edge development on an individual and cultural level. As I wrote it I thought--I wouldn't want someone to think that I think it's just a Lebanese/Israeli or MidEast issue. It's everywhere!

Mel Gibson's tirade at his drunk driving arrest shows a man whose edges of his Life Puzzle have not formed well. Hiding behind his religion/spirituality, he's pretended to be a spiritual SELF, but if this were so, it would be totally impossible for him to do what he did (attacking Jews) His Spiritual edge has not formed--his SELF does not reflect love for all--especially for himself. His admission of life-long addiction issues makes it clear that his feeling/thinking edges have not formed either. This is a man whose SELF--a SELF that honors his body, manages his emotions, makes proactive choices with acceptance of consequences and living love for all is not yet complete.

It's important to realize that just because you're in a position of power or have celebrity--that has nothing to do with whether or not you've built a healthy, whole and dynamic Life Puzzle. Adolf Hitler at one time had lots of power, but he had no SELF. When I started my private practice many years ago, my clients were successful people. They had good jobs, houses, cars, kids and tons of stuff....what they didn't have was a SELF. They would come into me and say, "I've got the house, the cars, the kids, the stuff--I'm supposed to be happy and I'm not. What's wrong with me?" What was wrong was that 'happiness' is found within a SELF with strong edges--that they didn't have. The Life Puzzle model was developed to help people learn how to build the edges that lead to a strong SELF and a life that honors the physical, emotional, thinking, sexual and spiritual whole they are becoming. That's the great news--its something you learn, not something you buy.

I have great compassion for Mel Gibson--living inside a SELF when one's edges are poorly formed is difficult. Under the glare of celebrity, it is hard for a person to not get conned by the adoration and delusional power that comes with celebrity. It makes it difficult to acknowledge that something's wrong within one's SELF and seek help. My not so famous clients (well, honestly, none were famous! :) had it much easier when their inner voice said, "Something's missing here...I need some assistance."

Mel Gibson is a reflection of many adults walking around this planet. In fact, most adults have yet to form strong edges. Instead of doing this work, the world is bogged down killing each other and otherwise creating chaos. If instead we were all learning how to put together a whole and dynamic Life Puzzle (which anyone can easily learn!) what a fabulous world we'd have.

Well, I'll do what I can--you do what you can--maybe in another 2000 years we'll hit the tipping point and finally achieve peace--a piece at a time with the whole SELF in mind!

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