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Presented by
Pennsylvania Neurological Associates, LTD.
Charles S. Yanofsky, M.D. |
Albert. W. Heck, M.D. |
Jon L. Vickery, M.D. |
Francis J. Janton, III, M.D. |
| Liana Laza, M.D. | |
Janice Morrow, Practice Administrator
108 Lowther Street
Lemoyne, PA 17043
(717) 774-2202
LISTEN
By Cathy Finney
SH-H-H! ARE YOU LISTENING?
YOUR LIFE IS
SPEAKING
All day I think about it, then at
night I say it.
Where did I come from,
and what am
I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure
of that,
and I intend to end up there.
----Rumi
What is our purpose? What are we to
accomplish? What are we to give
back? What are we to leave behind.
I've always said that our purpose is
our batteries. It's what keeps
us going. We just have to make sure we're going in the right direction.
Recently I discovered the motto of
Outward Bound:
"If you
can't get out of it, get into it!"
Ever since MS has moved into my
body, and into my life, getting "into
it" has become my main priority. I do believe everything happens for
a
reason. This disease is slowing me down so I will listen, so that I can
realize my real purpose. My reason for "being." I'm Showing Up! I'm
Listening!
I take my vitamin "P's"
everyday.
The first
one is to help me realize my Purpose.
The next one
ignites the sparks and sets off my Passion for life
& People & PLAY!
Then there's
one for Perserverence.
And the last
one I need double doses because it is for Patience,
and I can't wait! (Somethings never change!) I AM working on Patience and
.
. .
LISTENING
LISTENING TO LIFE
SH-H-H- LISTEN . . .
Parker J. Palmer, has written a
beautiful, profound book, "Listen To
Your Life." He quotes an old Quaker saying . . . "Let your life
speak."
He explains that the word "vocation" comes from
Latin for "voice."
To quote Dr. Palmer,
"Before
I tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen
for what my life wants to do with me. . . . I came to understand that
vocation is not a goal to be achieved, but a gift to be received. I must
listen to the voice in here calling me to be the person I was born to be."
He quotes Theologian Frederich
Baechner who defines vocation as "a
place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need."
"Each
time a door closes the rest of the world opens up. All we
need to do is stop pounding on the door that just closed, and welcome the
largeness of life that now lies open to our souls. We must take the
"no" of
the way that closes and find the guidance it has to offer - and - take
the
"yes" of the way that opens and respond with "yes" for our
lives."
SH-H-H- LISTEN . . .
"What a
long time it can take to become the person one has always
been."
Mary Sarton uses twenty-one words to
speak of the quest for vocation:
"Now I
become myself.
It's taken
time, many years and places.
I have been
dissolved and shaken,
Worn other
people's faces."
"Ask me whether what I have
done is my life."
---William Safford
Thomas Merton calls it "true
self."
"Self
planted in us by the God who made us in God's own image -
the self that wants nothing more, or less, than for us to be who we were
created to be. True self is true friend."
SH-H-H- LISTEN . . .
I started "listening," really listening a couple
of months ago. I found a
wonderful book, and a new professor who opened my eyes, my mind, and my
"ears." This is a lady everyone should have the opportunity to
"encounter."
Her name is Ingrid Bacci. Her story is, "Effortless Living."
She has a PhD. in Philosophy. She
attended Harvard, and Columbia. She
and her husband had the "perfect life." Then when she was 31 she
couldn't
move. She was sick for three years. Three years of not moving, and not
knowing. Forget a cure, they couldn't come up with a diagnosis! SHE decided
to DO SOMETHING. She began a search for an an answer for her health, and her
life. She began a self-study of the mind-body connection. She trained in
alternative therapies and studied spiritual traditions. She examined and
re-examined the higher powers of the mind.
She quit her job. She left her husband. She started over.
She went back
to school and got more degrees. She became a consultant to share her
knowledge, and help others. Ten years later all the signs of her illness are
gone. She advanced from being crippled to performing as a tri-athlete. Today
she's a medical practitioner, and a terrific author!
Her entire premise is that we spend our lives
"doing." Doing what we're
supposed to do. We get so busy"doing," that we don't hear. We don't
listen to
who we really want to "be." We end up "doing" instead of
"being."
Dr. Bacci explains it this way:
"I had no inkling that I was
going through something that I would one
day bless as one of the most useful experiences of my life. . . .
Like other people on the healing
path, I had to learn how to take
responsibility for my life, including my illness, without plunging into
guilt, self-blame or self-criticism.
I also had to own my illness by
seeing it as a taskmaster and a
teacher . . . . I had to approach my predicament as a challenge to develop
insight, personal power, and certain unique skills.
We're afraid to listen. . .
We're afraid we'll lose control. . . So
we stop listening.
When we listen we feel . . We are
BEING!"
Dr. Palmer agrees. He says, "Our lives are driven by
oughts (doing). The
shoulds don't work."
"Our lives are spent imitating
heroes (doing), instead of listening
to our hearts."
SH-H-H-
LISTEN --- EVERYBODY'S TALKING!
"I couldn't be still, until I
couldn't be still.
It made me stop and listen. . . .
In stillness, each has found a self beyond all labels,
the still small voice, that speaks straight to the
soul."
Michael J. Fox
"Doing" is fun,
but "being"
is what life's all about!"
Christopher Reeve
"When we stay still long
enough,
we begin to feel what we really feel
and to know what we really
know."
"I believe that you are here
to become more of yourself
and live your best life."
Oprah Winfrey
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"People have a hard time
letting go of their suffering.
Out of fear of the unknown,
they prefer suffering that is
familiar."
Thich Nhat Hanh
"In many ways, getting MS has
been a gift.
It is a constant reminder that I
must LIVE ."
Book Researcher
Allentown, Pa.
"The important thing is this:
to be able at any
moment
to sacrifice what we are
for what we could
become."
Charles DuBos, French critic
"We must be willing
to get rid of the life we planned,
so as to have the life
that is waiting for us.
"
Joseph Campbell
"In the end it is important to
remember
that we cannot become
who we need to be
by remaining who we are."
Anna Quindlen's new book, "A Short Guide to a
Happy Life," is a little
book that is is filled with wisdom, and insight. It is about this gift we are
given called, "life!" Every human should own this tiny treasure and
learn
it's magic lessons!
"Knowledge of our own mortality
is the greatest gift God ever gives
us, because unless you know the clock is ticking, it is so easy to waste our
days, our lives."
We know the clock's ticking,
We know that life's calling --
But, we're not listening --
SH-H-H -
THEN we hear it --
Then wet GET IT
THAT minute when our lives will never be the same.
Anna Quindlen says "our world becomes divided into
'before' and 'after.'
It was the dividing line between seeing the world in black and white &
technicolor. The lights came on for the darkest possible reason.
I knew that I had undergone a sea
change. Because I was never again
going to be able to see life as anything except a great gift.
I learned to look at all the good in
the world and to try to give
some of it back. I tried to do that by telling others what I had learned. . .
School never ends. The classroom is
everywhere.The exam comes at the
end."
LIVE LIFE WITH JOY & PASSION . . . LISTEN . .
.
Take your vitamin "P."
Persevere
Be Proud of who you are . . .
Passion, & Pride give you the Power to Participate --
to "Be!"
NOW!
TODAY IS THE PRESENT ~
THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED A GIFT.
"The gift of self is finally, the only gift we have to
give."
Parker J. Palmer
LISTEN . . . Your LIFE IS
SPEAKING
-Cathy Finney July 2001
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