What Do We Actually See

It is far too easy to fool ourselves at times.  What we think we see and what we actually see are often not in sync with one another.  Our mind and our body have a good way of getting us to believe what we see, even if it is not the truth.

Whether it is in the latest "belief" of what is true in our society or politics or spiritual practices, often we have our minds made up and we're not going to allow anyone to introduce anything different to us.  We have our paradigms locked away in our box and that is it.

Unfortunately, the more we do this, the more we limit ourselves to what really exists.  There's no one that can tell you what exists in your world.  Many do try to do this and many will listen as if it is the truth, but the thing is, only you know what exists in your mind and body.

We are usually oblivious to it...

Even though we know what exists in our own mind and body, we are usually oblivious to it.  We've put it in specially marked boxes that only filter how it will appear.  Yet we think that with our filters we apply, that is how it is - end of story, period!

I was raised with a strict adherence to one way of looking at things.  I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt now that most of what I was taught would not hold water.  It would be like trying to carry water in a bucket full of holes.  Yet, it took me forever to understand that and now that I have, I am glad I finally came to my senses.

In the physical body, we often think that a doctor or healing practitioner or some other person has the answers to issues, illness, and ailments we face.  We don't realize that we hold the key to our own healing.  We see one way of looking at it, but we fail to see the entire picture.  We have our filters fully engaged.

If we are challenged...

Often if we are challenged to see beyond what we see, we come back and strike at the person.  We show them just how stupid they are in our eyes.  We hurl insults as if they are the ones that need to be enlightened.  We fail to see that it isn't about them.  They are only acting as a mirror to the depths of our own life.

It is up to us to allow ourselves to see beyond what we think we see.  It is through our own awareness and growth, that we begin to allow this.  It is through awareness that we become more conscious.

If you think you see your life clearly, you are probably chasing a mirage.  We need people who desire to truly get to know themselves from the inside out.  We need people in this world that truly want to be human, fully connected to every part of themselves, not hiding behind the filters we put up.

For when we truly see all that is in us, it is then that we are on the path of self discovery, growth and awareness.  Surely, to be human means that we are here to find our true potential and possibility.  Surely, we are not meant to hide from getting to know ourselves in every way possible.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Pursuing Symptoms In Healing

One thing we do in healing that is misguided is trying to heal the wrong things.  I don't mean to make it sound like a mistake, even if it is.  I mean that we focus and pursue healing symptoms more than we do in healing the entire mind, body, and spirit.

Every licensing year in the massage world here in Florida, I see the "new" modalities and classes come through.  Everyone out there is promising relief from pain, relief from this situation or that situation.  Use this electrical stimulation device and get rid of the pain.  Use this technique and alleviate the pain.  Provide pain relief with this modality.

While there's some truth and benefit to all of those things, many of them are so misguided.  Sometimes they offer a placebo effect all the time proving to you that the system works.  They get so caught up in their own paradigms of what is going on that they miss the bigger picture.

It meant painful discoveries...

Take, for instance, if I would have focused only on the symptoms of Conversion Disorder that I was experiencing, I would have not made it very far.  No, I had no clue how to heal my life, but it was in that never ending questioning that I found ways to heal.  The symptoms of paralysis, seizures and a numbed body were not where I needed to focus to heal.  I had to go to the core of those issues and yes, it meant some painful discoveries.

Another instance of when this applies is when I had a full body rash.  I could have focused on the symptoms only but little progress would have been made.  While I was trying to find anything that helped alleviate the itching of the rash, I knew that something was kicking it up.  Through deep work into the mind and body, I soon discovered what was fueling the rash.  No, it wasn't easy to go into this space of healing, but without it, I would still be fighting the symptoms.

Stress to a Physical Stressor

One time I was working with a client, doing to their office and doing weekly chair massage.  One of the ladies would often complain how torqued her back felt and how painful it was.  I would work on the symptoms while I was there and often alleviate it.  However, the next week I went back, it would be as if I had done nothing.  I soon discovered that the way she had her computer positioned on her desk was twisting her back.  When you apply the stress of the day to a physical stressor such as this, you're going to get pain.  If I would have just focused on the symptoms of pain in her back and not observing what was behind it, I would have missed the healing part.

There are times of course that you have to focus on the symptoms because you or others need relief.  We need to know that we can get out of that pain.  Sometimes, it is just a moment of "please take the pain away".  Unfortunately, if we're just treating symptoms, we're going to miss the bigger picture of healing.

I kept asking the questions...

I would have never made it out of Conversion Disorder and paralysis if I would have not kept asking the questions that I needed or searching for what could help.  I looked for ways that would physically help me and make a difference, noticing that they helped me heal to my core.

Sometimes we just get caught up in the symptoms as we so badly want them to go away, but more often than not, this does very little for us.  It numbs us.  It helps us disconnect from it, but it doesn't go to the core issue of what is causing it.

Medications and medical procedures don't always do what we think they are doing.  I knew a lady that had 52 surgeries in 48 years.  No one stopped to think about the overall big picture.  They were treating the symptoms.  When she started on healing her core mind and body, it is then that her body started to heal and surgeries and medications were no longer needed.

I know this probably sounds too easy to be true.  I know some will read it and say, "but you don't understand my condition" and "you don't know what I have to live with".  To that, I can only say, no I don't.  I just know what I've seen in my own life and that of many others and I will urge and prod you to go deeper, dig further, and work toward healing the symptoms, not necessarily treating the symptoms.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Reiki Attunement

Purples, green, bright white light.

Mixing and fading into pure peace, love and stillness.

Going from moments of wondering and questioning into discovery and connectedness.

Seeing more possibility of what there is, of what could be and that this is a part of the path.

Feeling the love, feeling the pureness and wholesomeness of the moment supported by the love.

Feeling full of gratitude for something so simple, yet so profound.

Just in this moment today, with nothing else but being here, connected to all that is present.

No need to strive to touch it, as it is just part of all that is here.

Through the breath, being filled with pure love, pure acceptance and pure energy, may awareness open into a new consciousness.



Blog Post & Images (c) 3/10/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Swine Flu Paranoia

I received this picture in an email the other day and I have no idea who created it. Whoever they are, you did a wonderful job depicting the paranoia surrounding the swine flu. If the creator of this picture sees this post, please let me know who you are so I can give proper credit to you.

While I know the general population feels that health care is about taking shots, vaccines, medications and having all types of medical procedures done, there are other ways. If we continue to subscribe to this paradigm, we are not making ourselves more healthy. We are avoiding the inevitable. I know there are many out there that feel this is the only way, and I know that many would not listen to much outside of that but I'm asking that you do not accept the status quo as the only route. Step away for a moment, from all that society, the news and those you have always listened to are telling you and seek out that which is a powerful force of healing and health within our bodies. You need not go any further in discovery than looking within yourself.

Discover New Lands

I can only forge ahead into the seas,
Knowing that my ship will sail on,
Looking to the stars and moon
As I move to new worlds beyond. -
(c) 2000 by Don Shetterly



Taken from the poem, New Worlds by Don Shetterly from his book, "A Journey Through Words"
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How Could Anyone

One of my all time favorite healing songs is one that Shaina Noll performed on her CD, "Songs For The Inner Child". It is a beautiful and simple song yet the words are so powerful.

Here is what I wrote and sent to Shaina Noll that she posted on her website:

"The first time I was introduced to Shaina Noll's music was at a Voices conference in Chicago, IL. Ellen Bass was completing her keynote address at the conference and she ended with the audience singing How Could Anyone.

It was the first time I had ever heard this song and singing it with fellow survivors brought me to tears. Here are the words to this song:

'How could anyone ever tell you - you were anything less than beautiful. how could anyone ever tell you - you were less than whole. How could anyone fail to notice that your loving is a miracle. How deeply you're connected to my soul.'

The next time I heard this song was when a therapist played it for me one day in a therapy session. I immediately recognized it and with the topic of the therapy session, it brought tears to my eyes. Fortunately I was able to find the CD, Songs For the Inner Child, which features the song How Could Anyone.

During this time, I was going through a very difficult point in my life and the little child within me was hurting so much. I began to play this CD time and time again. Most of the time, I would play only the song How Could Anyone. in the morning before leaving for work and then before I went to bed at night. I did this for about a month and it began to change how I viewed myself and how I started to accept myself."

If you have never heard of this song, take a listen to it. You can hear a sound clip of the song on her page on CDbaby.com .

The lyrics go like this:

How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful?

How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole?

How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle?

How deeply you're connected to my soul

Try playing it through in the morning and at night for a month and see if it doesn't change your life like it did with mine.

Self Discovery

Self discovery could be compared to a sewing needle. It takes focus, patience and if you don't get the thread through the eye of the needle, just keep trying until you do.