Paradigms

This has been a subject near and dear to my heart for many years.  Way back in the late 1980's, I saw a video called "Paradigm".  In it, the discussion was about how people and companies that adapted moved on, while those that didn't often got lost in history.

Look at Kodak, a once major player that's been left in the dust by  digital cameras.  The paradigm shifted and I'm not so sure they kept up with the changing times.

If you're not too young, think back to the days of using carbon paper to make duplicates of something you needed to write.  I remember as a kid, that was some pretty fun stuff to play with.  Copiers were barely around at that time.  Printers and computers were nothing like we have today.  If someone would have said, "but carbon paper works just fine," that paradigm would have left them in history's dust.

That's a paradigm...

I heard a story about Thomas Edison wanting to "light" a town in Southwest Florida where he spent the winters.  The people were so scared of this new form of "lighting" that they would not have anything to do with it.  Of course, we look back and scoff at the thought that these light bulbs are so unsafe that we would never want them in our homes.  That's a paradigm!

At one time in the medical world, the paradigm was that washing hands was unnecessary. In fact, those that proposed the concept were laughed at.  Also in medical history, they thought that "blood" in the body or humors as they called it, was something you had to get out with the use of leaches.  We now know of course that blood is essential to our functioning.  It was a paradigm that fortunately went away.

Many things we believe...

There are many things that we believe as paradigms in our life.  While some of these beliefs can be helpful, all too often the paradigms get in the way of our discovery and awareness, thereby stopping our growth.  We get so entrenched with our paradigms and beliefs that we cannot see beyond where we are.

I see this in the world of religion, healing, and new age.  It is alive and well in the medical world.  We grasp on to that which has been regurgitated to us, but we don't go in and truly evaluate and challenge our beliefs and paradigms.  We end up holding ourselves back.  We end up holding others back that follow what we say.

Paradigms can be a good foundation to build on, but they should never be all that we see.  In order to survive among our own paradigms and beliefs, we have to challenge everything.  If it withstands the challenge through time, we have something solid to grasp.  If it does not, it means we need to look at our paradigms from another angle because we are most likely missing a key point.

Don't get locked into your paradigms.  They never serve you well.  Push yourself beyond what you think is true and right and all that there is.  Don't settle for what you've already come to understand.

Push yourself into the areas beyond that point.  This is what helps a human become all they can be and grow into a person that has much more potential.

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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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Finding Peace In Your Body

I'm sure the title of this blog post could mean different things to different people.  Depending upon your own paradigms and experiences, it could easily be construed to be a belief system that may or may not prove repeatable.  Finding peace in your body is essential to the human experience, but far too often we miss the mark.

Even though we think we've found peace in the body, many times it is a temporary illusion.  In many ways, we have multiple influences and pressures and stresses hitting us constantly.  When we combine that with past experiences that we may or may not remember, it becomes a recipe for anything but finding peace in your body.

Meditation, Yoga, prayer, dancing, singing, and mind-body centered work can all help us achieve greater peace in our life.  Unfortunately, sometimes we only hit the surface and because the relaxation feels better than what we're used to in life, we think this is deep peace.  Don't get me wrong, any type of relaxation is better than nothing, but it may not be as a deep peace as you want to believe it is.

Awareness leads you to deep peace...

I've gone through some wonderful and deep work called Unified Therapy with Dr. Paul Canali.  In a session, it is body centered, connecting the felt sense of the body with the mind.  As you go into these moments, the pains and anxiety and struggles surface and show up.  As you're guided through the process and as you keep fear in perspective, you reach a very deep inner place.  This place of knowing gives way to a greater awareness.  As you step into the awareness and out of the fear that arises in your body, you find deep peace.

This peace is not superficial.  It is very difficult to describe, but once you experience it, everything makes sense.  It is a moment where  you don't want to be disturbed and you wish you could stay in this state of deep peace forever.  To think about coming out of it is not always welcomed because it is such a pure state where nothing else matters in life.

We follow our limiting paradigms...

These days, I find that most people are going through their lives not finding peace in their bodies.  Some will use religious beliefs to give the illusion they are.  Others will use new age practices and claim they know deep peace.  More often than not, we're following our own limiting paradigm of all that there can be.

No, I'm not saying you haven't found a way to access peace in your body.  I'm just making the point that finding deep peace in your body is beyond the realm where most people go.  We're too busy.  We're too stressed.  We're too tied up in our own belief systems or paradigms to go where we need to travel.

Let us strip away all that we think is right and learn to go deep within the body to experience all that may be uncomfortable at first, but yield results that you never thought was possible.  If you think you've found the edge of all that there is and you've defined it in your own set of beliefs, opinions and thoughts, you're missing the possibility of what lies beyond that.

Your beliefs and paradigms and thoughts are fine as long as they don't limit you and hold you back.  Building our life on what we think we know, rather than what is possible is like building a mansion at the edge of the ocean in the sand.  It may look pretty when its built, but most likely it will not stand the test of time.

Finding peace in your body is about going further, not just stopping at the water's edge.

#Peace

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 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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Angry At Your Doctor Or Therapist

I see this time and time again and it breaks my heart.  While I realize there are some medical professionals that probably fail their patients, there are many patients who fail their medical professionals.  I'm not saying everyone is like that, but I've seen many situations where this is true.

Calling your doctor a nut or a stupid or making rude remarks at them is not going to help you or them get to a better situation.  If you hate the doctor or medical professional that much, maybe its time to find someone that you like.  Not all medical professionals match with patients because like anything in life, it is a relationship.  If the relationship doesn't work, the medical professional isn't going to be good for you.

One thing I've seen though is how people want to go into a doctor or therapist and expect them to do all the healing work for the person.  It is like, walk into their office and expect the doctor and therapist to magically make everything better.  If you view medical people in this way, you may want to rethink this approach.

Sometimes we only go part way...

They can only work with you to the extent that you are willing to work with them.  Too many people will only go part way or fail to do what is suggested after they leave the medical office.  It is like, great suggestion doc or therapist, but well, life got busy.  I forgot to do whatever it was you suggested that I do.  Please fix me though.  I may sound harsh to patients but it is sad when you see this.

Yes, I know that sometimes doctors and therapists don't work out either.  This is a discussion you need to have with your medical provider.  Be honest with them and let them be honest with you.  You're not going to get anywhere if you hate them and they are frustrated with you.

I went through Conversion Disorder and while I didn't have the internet to search and see what it was about, I learned that I had to trust my doctor in the beginning.  He wanted me to get better and he was applying his knowledge and training in the best way that he could.  In the very early days, I was not even aware of the actual diagnosis.  My doctor and I were more concerned about helping me get past the physical issues and enter life in the healthiest and most normal way that I could.

I learned to ask the right questions...

Some days it required me to have patience.  It often required that I learned to ask the questions that I needed to ask so that I understood what was going on.  It required me to not think that I knew it all, but open myself up to possibilities that may not be thoughts in my brain at that time.

Sometimes we are so busy fighting the doctor thinking we know it all, but we forget that we are in a physical situation that we cannot control.  This is why we have sought medical help and if we treat the medical professionals with contempt and in a rude way, how will this help us?

I feel for doctors and therapists because I have had the same thing happen to me in massage work.  I've had clients look at me like I was crazier than a looney nutcase!  Yet, I knew from experience that what I was trying to accomplish would work.  It would help.  If the patient fights you at every turn, there is only so much you can do.

Give up all that you know...

I have said this many times but in order to heal, you often have to give up all that you think you know and find out what it is that you don't know.  When we face physical situations, there is something that is missing and we can either fight against finding out what that is, or we can open our minds up to all possibilities.

The choice is for each person to make.  Some patients will gladly pursue the unknown possibilities and others will not.  At the end of the day, you can only hope that you have a qualified medical professional helping you and that your desire to want to get better is more than words.

This also requires the medical professionals to know when they are not making progress and either find a new course or bring in someone that maybe can help.  It requires medical professionals to step outside of their own paradigms because some effective form of healing may be just around the corner.

Find the right doctor or therapist for you...

At the end of the day, we all have to work together.  We need to form a good relationship between the patient and medical provider.  If that does not exist, then it is time to move on and find the right relationship that will help you heal.  It may also mean, changing your approach to the medical professional and surrendering to their assistance to follow their advice.

I don't write any of this out of malice because I know when you're in the middle of horrific, painful, and life-altering situations, there is no easy moment.  There is no moment that makes this clear.  I'm just asking you, the reader, to look at things differently.  See beyond what you see and know and feel to be true.  That's where you will find the answers!

You may want to check out a blog post I wrote last year on Challenge Your Healing Paradigm.

(click image to read)

Question Of The Day

Are you allowing yourself to see all possibilities in your own healing?  Leave a comment below to share your take on all of this or what you have learned.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 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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Cow In The Road

Did you ever hear that story?  The one that gets shared about the cow in the road?  If not, let me refresh your memory so we can all be on the same page.

There is a person driving through the country enjoying the nighttime peacefulness.  The road is winding and narrow.  All of the sudden, he sees this car coming towards him barreling at a fast speed.  It is honking its horn frantically and flashing its lights.  The driver of that car is hanging out the window hollering "cow" at the top of their lungs.

Of course, this person wonders what kind of a crazy fool is that, hollering and honking their horn.  They must be crazy as they were driving erratically and screaming.  The person thinks how rude and horrible this person driver is.

However, as the person rounds the corner of the curved road, he sees the cow in the middle of the road.  The crazy oncoming driver was trying to warn him before it was too late. 

We are just like that person driving that fails to see what is before us. We think we have it all together and so we portray that to the world.  Yet, we don't see the parts before us.  We act as if everything is okay and that if you get the alerts, you disregard them.

Our society is like that.  Alerts are there and the behavior that others are doing to one another is there.  Yet, we fail to see them.  We think everything is fine.  We think it is the other guy that has the problem but not us.

We can keep going through life oblivious to what is right before us, thinking that we have it all under control.  If we keep doing that, we will be like the driver rounding the curve in the road not even aware of what lies ahead.

It is our choice what we do, but our actions have serious impacts on the road ahead.  We can either be aware and see them or we can continue to hide our head in the sand.  Which will you do?

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Blog Post And Images (c) 12/24/15 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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The Body Knows How To Heal

All too often I see people giving up.  I know its hard to go through situations in life and experience body pain or physical conditions.  I understand.  I've been there far more than I care to remember at times.

Body conditions, experiences and pain are not a life sentence, unless you want them to be.  Now, I can't say all conditions out there can be healed once they are reached, but I do know without a shadow of a doubt that we can heal far more than we currently think we can.

The body knows how to heal itself from the conditions we find ourselves in.  I see and read evidence of this all the time.  You can call them miracles if you want or you can frame them in whatever way you want, but the body does know how to heal itself.

Challenge Your Healing Paradigm

One thing I'll never understand about humans is how they think.  Sometimes I actually think humans don't think.  They just follow along with what they were taught and saw practiced.  Sure, everyone wants to act like they are free-thinkers and not following a script they were taught but the evidence does not support that theory.

Unfortunately, I don't think we see things as clearly as we do.  We see things through all the mirrors of our life's experiences, family teachings, filters, and what society expects of us.  We don't necessarily see things the way we think we do.  Society is far to quick to squash those that do and we are far too quick to succumb to it as humans.   There is power in the masses following the same plot line.  There is fear in the masses doing what they think is best for themselves.

Many years ago when I was paralyzed from Conversion Disorder, none of the medical staff could tell me what I needed to do to heal myself.  They did little things but I think they resigned themselves to the fact that I might have been in this situation for the rest of my life.  It wasn't easy to go through this and finding my way to healing was much more difficult than the paralysis. I literally had to follow my own courage in what step to take next even though I had no clue at the time.

Food and Healing The Body

What the vast majority of us know about nutrition would probably not hold up to a large scale scrutiny through a scientific research study.  We all think we know what we need to eat.  We all think that what we've been told through the media and much of our education is gospel truth.

Unfortunately, we don't know as much about food and the body as we think we do.  Pat yourself on the back if you think you're an exception, but most likely you're not.  If you buy into most of the modern day paradigms, let me sell you some moon water while you're thinking about that one.

Too much of what we were taught really wasn't what we needed to know.  No sense in blaming our parents or schools or society for what we were taught.  It isn't going to get you very far.  So, feel free to stretch your limits and your own paradigms.  Time to re-educate yourself.

Things Happen

At times I never stop to consider little moments in my day as being anything but little moments.  Yes, sometimes that is all they are, but sometimes they are part of a much bigger picture.  Often times we are part of events that occur every day and yet when "things happen" at some point in the future, we don't necessarily connect the two.

Its too easy at times to look at your life and complain about all that  you perceive you don't have or all that is going wrong in your estimation.  Its too easy to look at your life and think you've been dealt the unlucky hand, wishing for things to be different.  Its too easy to look at your life and ponder why everyone else appears to have it all and you're struggling with every moment of your day.

Yes, there are times when life truly sucks.  There are times when what you are experiencing truly is more than you feel like you can handle.  In life, we can often feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Yet, if you stop and look back over  your life, you will see a different picture.  If you could look at your life from many miles above it, the perspective would change.

Killing Ourselves With High Medical Bills

In a recent article in Time Magazine, a detailed account is given of someone experiencing life threatening cancer and not having adequate insurance to cover it.  In this scenario that was presented, the couple did have insurance, but since they were self employed, the policy was not enough to cover the costs of cancer treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  You can read more of the details in the Time Magazine article, Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us.

Even though we are killing ourselves with high medical bills in this country, I am not trying to vilify MD Anderson Cancer Center.  In fact, I believe they are helping to bring together all facets of healing and health care.  The only thing that bothers me in this article is that their president is also tied financially with some major pharmaceutical companies.  I find it sad that there is this close of relationship between health care services and companies that are profiting from the same thing.  In my mind, it is a conflict of interest and you will have to decide for yourself how you feel about it.

Of course we can sit here all day and blame someone or everyone for the high medical bills.  Regardless of who we blame, each one of us individually are killing ourselves with the state of healthcare in this country.  It is up to each one of us to change how we perceive what health care and healing is, rather than just following the status quo and doing what society dictates we should do.  I am very adamant on this, because I know that while medical care is necessary, it often negates the individual's role

Modern Medical Paradigms

An Apple A Day
www.womenspost.ca

In an article, An Apple A Day, by Andrea Zeelie, posted on womenspost.ca, I have to take issue with the author's conclusion.  While Andrea Zeelie does post some relevant pieces of information and discussion points, I feel that her own paradigms limit her conclusions. 

Like so many others on the internet, the name of Steve Jobs is being used in all types of articles and websites as if everyone knows Steve Jobs personally.  I realize that this is how the internet world works, but I don't agree that this is what is always best for our society and culture.  Of course history will render its verdict after years have elapsed.

On to the article and important stuff - Andrea Zeelie claims that if Steve Jobs would have listened to the medical establishment and followed normal procedure, that he would most likely still be alive today.  In her claims, alternative medicine does little to heal people unlike the practices of modern medicine.  This is exactly what is missing in this world when it comes to health care.  We burrow down in our own area of expertise and claim that anything outside of that will do very little to help heal the body.  When we go to our respective corners of our own beliefs, we limit the potential of the human race.  Unfortunately, far too many do not even comprehend that they operate from a set of derived beliefs rather than a truth based system.

US Health Care Costs Skyrocket

According to HealthReform.gov, the United States (US) spent approximate $2.2 Trillion on health care in 2007 or $7421 per person. This comes to 16% of the GDP. Furthermore, health care costs doubled between 1996 and 2006. I could continue to state additional facts of how expensive health care is getting to be but we all know this. If this source for information like this does not interest you, than just do a google search on skyrocketing health care costs and you will find a great deal of information out there. Most of the statistics and information show the dramatic increase in health care costs and the projections indicate the costs are only going to rise.

The problem comes in, not in anything political or any of the other stuff that is reported and blogged about, but in how we actually view the paradigm of health care that we live in. Most of us, go through life thinking that a pill advertised on TV, or a medical procedure that is supposed to cure everything within us or the label that is placed on our condition gives us definitive proof that what we suffer from is real. This is where many of us stop in our quest for relief from health conditions affecting our lives.

The only thing that we are missing is why with all the money we are spending, are we not curing people? Why are we continuing to spend record amounts of money on all these things and yet not come away being healed from these things? Yes, you can suppress and manage symptoms but in most cases, you are not truly healing your body.

Yet, we as a nation have embraced these ideals as the answers to our health problems. Of course, I'm not discounting the medical advances we have made and the significant scientific understandings through research that we have discovered but at some point we all as a society and as individuals need to start asking some very difficult questions. We need to question why we continue to do the same things in health care and get the same results while costs skyrocket.

Often we fail to embrace all parts of the healing systems that we can. We segment everything into what a professional tells us is the answer when instead we need to stop, listen and feel to what is within us. We push ourselves constantly and ignore the messages the body tries to get us to listen to. We think that we have to make ourselves busier and push ourselves because that somehow makes us a more successful human. Many humans today do not even stop for a moment to take care of themselves and then they expect their bodies to perform and not get sick.

In many ways, we have not discovered the truth of healing health care. We have failed to see that answers we need come from within us and not necessarily from a pill, procedure, philosophy or person. We as a society and as individuals need to wake up and we need to wake up quickly.

I've been through some serious health challenges in my life including paralysis, depression, migraines, ulcers, anxiety attacks, severe rashes and itching. Many of these things I believed were life sentences and I felt for a long time that I would be on medication for the rest of my life. It never occurred to me at the time that there was a possibility I would find something that allowed me to move past these things and find a way to heal my own body.

Today, I am no longer on any medications. After a recent dental procedure, I took some antibiotics for a few days but outside of that, I had not been to a pharmacy in years. I no longer stock Tylenol or other over the counter products in the house because I do not need them.

In fact, a year ago my pulse was clocking in at a constant 99 beats per minute or higher but now my pulse rate is around the 70's. I didn't use drugs, procedures or new age concepts to change it. I used my inner awareness and inner healing to create lasting change within myself. I resolved the issues that needed to be resolved instead of hiding my head in the sand. It did help having a pulse meter that gave me inside information as to what was happening with my pulse.

Each person can choose to believe what they want to believe but please know that this is your belief system. It is your paradigm, not actually what is true and scientific proven fact. This is not about taking away pain but going into the pain and reclaiming the power, the energy and hearing the message of the pain to heal one's self in a very deep way. Many new age concepts think that "pain management" or "pain relief" is healing when in reality, you're just turning off the information flow from the body.

This is not about going to some individual and having them "heal you" but that you find the true healer within your own body and that you become more aware of who you are. It is about evolving as humans and becoming all that we are and all that we are meant to be. The answers to what we need do in fact lie within ourselves. It may be frightening to find them but if we ask, search and listen, we will find them.

Thinking Outside The Box

We are taught to think inside the box.
Then we are taught to think outside the box.
What I want to ask is,
Who put the box there?

pg. 101, On Becoming An Artist by Ellen Langer