Is it Pleasure, Power and Avoidance OR LOVE??

I finally gotten down to continue, but still not completed, the programme I in the beginning of the year. Supposed to complete during my 3 days stay @ FMM, Maris Stella Convent with Sr. Assunta Leong, but I was just too “WOLS”. So had to bring back the cassette tapes (YA!!! the superbly old CASSETTE tapes) to complete on my own.

The programme is called “The Fully Alive Experience” by John Powell, S.J. and Loretta Brady. The emphasis of the programme is that we lead partial lives. An average person achieves only 10% of his/her potential: of senses, emotions, mind and heart. Ya.. so… the other 90% we are DEAD to ourselves.

I have done enough work (for now!), to find out what are the distorted visions(perceptions) I have for others and myself that is preventing me from being fully Alive. So, I moved on to the next part which is the vision of life and vision of the world.

What I would like to share here is that many of us seek meaning in life. I too. Questions asked usually are: What am I really seeking in life? What do I really want out of life? What do I really believe life is for? My answer is Happiness/Joy.

The 3 life-principles which dominates in our society which John Powell mentioned kept me pondering.My little reflection about myself on these 3 principles are as follows;

• Pleasure: I do things to seek happiness, fun, satisfaction, love…. all is to fulfill our human desires.
• Power: I seek power because of low-esteem, low confidence and insecurity.
• Avoidance of Responsibility: I don’t take control of our own life. We prefer others to tell us what to do. It’s easier that way. No ownership of self.
  

As usual, I was superbly disguised with myself. No wonder I always take so long to make decisions. Well, no matter how disguised I am with myself, God still loves me.

John Powell then shared another life-principle with Jesus clarifies: LOVE. The basic question to ask is always “What is the loving thing to do? to say? to be? He also says “Choosing the life-principle of love is God’s port of entry into our lives. We are channels. If God’s love can’t flow through us to others, it can’t flow.”

So, what principle am I following? DUH!! Of course LOVE lah!

Love is a decision. It is not just loving others and God. It’s even more important to love thyself.

It’s because I don’t love myself enough that I fall into pleasure, power and avoidance of responsibility.