Spiritual and Physical Health

A post by Dena Jensen

I have been taught all my life that using licit drugs was wrong, try to heal your body as natural as possible, drink water, herbal teas, live a healthy life, eat healthy, and live your life the best way you can. I was taught that smoking was bad, that caffeine was not to be consumed, and I was taught that my physical health was connected to our spiritual health.

 I have at a very young age, had to "listen to my health" because I have one kidney. I was in a car accident and to make a long story short, my left kidney was removed as a result.
I have had to learn through Doctors and reading a lot about the functions of kidneys, how to be as healthy as possible so that I can have a long healthy life with my one kidney.
 
  The world today is full of bad news, lots of bad things on the Television, and we have access to the internet making all kinds of media, some good but mostly bad, at our finger tips.
There is an advantage to the internet, and having all this knowledge we have, but with knowledge comes responsibility, at least, that is my opinion.
  When we do not feel well, we can simply go to web-md and look up our symptoms and there you have with in 5 minutes a list of three or four things that might be the problem. They will tell you of course, go to the Doctor and he or she will tell you with tests, what you might have, and you will be able to chose the next path to take with what you and your physician decides. I love web md. I love reading about the brain, the nervous system. I like to put in different symptoms just to read what it will say.
 We in this new age we are embarking, have the world at our finger tips and yet, I have found not a lot of people talk about our Spiritual Health. That one is more abstract, in my opinion. If something is broken, don't we just fix it?
  When I think of this planet and how many people are on it, I feel so small, but yet, I feel in my corner of the world I can make a difference. This was the whole reason I became involved with this project with my dad a few months ago. While things have taken off slowly,  I have seen that there are many people from all over the world read this webpage. They are searching for something in their life that is either missing or they are looking for something that can help them. Sometimes Mentally or Emotionally and sometimes Spiritually.
Our bodies need exercise and clean air, sleep and healthy food just like our physical bodies. When we do something to our physical body it effects our spiritual body and sometimes forever. I call this effect a foot print. I think of it as a blue permanent foot print.
  The blue foot print can be good or bad, depending on what you do. either way, it is there. This is where we need to care for ourselves in a way that we would care for a child, and protect our spiritual health the way we would protect our Temples.
  Please consider this for a minute. Consider your body, physical and spiritual, as a Mosque, a Temple, a Synagogue, or Mansion. Would you defile that Mansion? Would you take unclean things into your Palace? Would you keep the walls of your Temple clean and washed, polished for others to gaze with admiration?
 I was raised that my body is a Temple and that I would not seek to destroy something that God created.
 We would not want to destroy other peoples Mansions or Palaces either. We nurture and care for those we love around us, and care for our own Temples also.

Now that it is Spring time, I thought I would say, I think it is a good time to reflect on what I have said. Clean your "Temples", rid yourself spiritually and physically of things that will hurt your health, hurt your body or defile your Temples. It is a good time to do some "Spring Cleaning" clean your homes, your closets and reflect on your Spiritual and Physical Health.
This is a good time for some Personal Development in the Emotional and Spiritual way, wouldn't you agree?

Healthy Happy Living to you all. (And Happy Spring Cleaning!) Please, feel free to comment or ask questions! We (my dad and I) are always here to answer them!

WHO BEST UNDERSTANDS YOU?

When I asked my students, “Who knows you best?” They do not say, “My therapist.” First mentioned is, “Mother,” secondly, “Father.” Mothers and fathers are examples of someone who has served them, shared their life or loved them daily in simple ways. They are not people who are particularly astute in knowing laws and abstractions about human behavior. They are people who have served, lived, and shared a world together. 
When studying the early existentialists, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) and Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), I came to appreciate  a new way to look at knowledge. These two existentialists  pointed out a subjective type of knowing that is more fundamental, than a scientific analysis or what Kierkegaard calls objective truth.  This experiential type of knowing is the most important way to find meaning in both material objects and ourselves. The example of mothers being the person who best understand you illustrates this insight.
So to truly understand another person, you need to do things like: eat together, work on a job, share stories, take care of one another when sick, and live with each other in a loving, serving, and unselfish way.  Does this not tell you about another way to truly understand yourself and other people?  This conclusion is just the opposite of what we usually think about when looking to understand our-selves. 
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It is the New Year

This post was written by Dena Jensen

 I like making goals and New Years Resolutions are not different. I like tracking my progression and I like the feeling I get when those goals are accomplished.

    I felt it appropriate that I write about my experiences with goal setting.

 There are some things I learned about goal setting, and this is all trial and error.

Keep your goals Clear and Simple.   The more complex your goal is, the more difficult to reach. It does not mean you can not obtain that goal, but, rather, you need to have little steps to get to the finish line. So, start off with the little simpler goals to get you through to the big goals.

Have a Clear Vision of your goal. I call it a Clear Vision. I don't know what you want to call it, but think of this. Think if you were in a car with a heavy rain storm and you need to turn on the windshield wipers to see your way. That is your clear vision. I say visualize yourself with that goal accomplished, and visualize what you are doing with your goals.  If it is getting fit, find a picture of a person running, and tape it to your refrigerator. Whatever your goal is, have a Clear Vision of your goal.

Surround yourself with Positive people and think good thoughts about yourself, and your goals.

 I have found when I have people that are positive source of energy in my life, things are easier and better and I feel like I can accomplish things better.

Keep a Goal Journal. This will help you track your goal and you can see on paper your improvements. Write your feelings and thoughts and write things that have inspired you to reach your goals. write your frustrations with your set back in the goal, and write your gratitude towards people that have helped you reach your goal.

Keep a P.M.A.    I call it P.M.A  Positive Mental Attitude. This one can be hard sometimes. In my humble opinion this one is the hardest for me. I say that because sometimes outside forces whether it be work, peers,and life... Happens. And, we can easily get discouraged and sometimes things look like the odds are against us. I have adopted the attitude that Nothing is Impossible. Things might be improbable, but not impossible. How do we keep a PMA? I know when things get hard or stressful for me, I watch funny movies, I look for humor. Humor has been my release. I also find myself surrounding myself with people that I trust that give me encouragement. I have a good family support and good friends. Find good people to support you emotionally

Never Never Never Give up. There are many stories of Athletes that have accomplished the impossible, and You can do it too.  One man I really really admired growing up was a simple man. He was not famous, and he was small in stature. But, he was a great man in my opinion. He had two words on his desk for years and years. Two words. "Do It" This man was loved by man people. He was a good family man and was always good and honest to all he came in to contact with. I recall "Do It" because I think about that when I feel like I have a hard time reaching my own goals.

    Now, I know that writing this seems easier than actually doing your goals. If you do not accomplish any this year, hey, don't get yourself down about it. Whatever your goals are, whatever you accomplish this year, may it be your best, happiest and joyful year yet.

BELIEF FIVE.: DEVELOPMENT FLOWS FROM HOW I LIVE WITH OTHERS

Your unique self, identity, and specialness can be known only through your relationships with others. Some, mistakenly  think  that self-development should begin with a focus on self but the opposite is true. You really do not even exist alone. A mother is not a mother without a child, a husband is not a husband without a wife, nor an actor without an audience, a doctor without a patient. So when it comes to self development you must first consider your relationship with at least one other person. Success in changing for the better comes in living better with others. How is this accomplished?

Too often the self help advice you might receive is how to influence and change the other person masked as developing interpersonal skills. Instead the goal should be on you becoming a better person. What this entails will vary depending on who you are relating with and your present level of development. For example if there is a high and frequent level of conflict  between  a husband or wife the first thing to do might be to control your temper. If the problem is not conflict but lack of love for one another then the first thing to do might be caring and putting the welfare  of  the other person ahead of  your own. If the other person fears you or feels rejected then begin by trying to be less critical or judgmental. Notice that in all three of these cases the focus includes the other person as they encounter you. Thus the path to self improvement or healthy change becomes immediately apparent.

If you don’t know where to begin there is one sure good place to start that applies to all human interactions. It is to become more loving. Again, notice that this does not require any change or action on the part of the other person. Notice that even if they do not change at all you benefit by becoming a better person in each instance. The key, the guide, the most direct path to your self- improvement is found in you being better with another. This other could be God.




       SELF-INSIGHT QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

                           LESSON FIVE

1.    Why is another so important for self- development?



2.    Where and when have I observed that, “becoming more loving” is the first step or key to living better with others?



Recall an example of when the following attributes helped a person  become more  loving?

3.    Putting the needs and welfare of another before my own.



4.    Being non-critical, non-judgmental, or accepting of another.



5.    Being forgiving.



6.    Relating without using force and power.



7.    Having empathy or sharing another’s burdens.



8.    What is the most important belief I have learned from this reading and discussion.