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| Fulfilling Your Potential ...humans strive to express their capabilities fully, that they need this expression, and that fulfilling this creative need is the basis for happiness... by Peter Shepherd |
| Heal your Heart - Love your Body - Live your Joy! Simply Stunning! 3 guided meditations on one CD. Access higher wisdom, intuition and insights. Change habits, activate healing energies and free yourself from emotional trauma. Beautifully and expertly scripted and backed by Mike Rowlands amazing Fairy Ring music. Click CD's for more info. |
Fulfilling Your Potential
Transformation occurs when we realize that our existing solutions, assumed
truths and past decisions are unrealistic or that they are unnecessarily
self-limiting. This new insight allows us to view our life from a more
appropriate and empowering perspective.
One of the foundations of transformational psychology is Abraham Maslow's
theory of human needs. He believed that people are not merely controlled by
their circumstances nor by their unconscious instinctual impulses. Maslow
preferred to focus on our potential for creativity, believing that humans strive
to express their capabilities fully, that they need this expression, and that
fulfilling this creative need is the basis for happiness.
Whatever our astrological sign, our cultural conditioning, our numerological
disposition, our parents' genes, our situation and circumstances, our
education or lack of it -- we may consider these as limitations, or we may be
more open-minded. The truth is that these factors really don't matter if we
have a vision that inspires us enough and provides the energy we need to
overcome any obstacles, so we can manifest our creation in the world we
share.
For a vision or dream to be inspiring and energizing, it needs to be what we
really want. Not something designed to please others or to fulfill their
expectations.
The incredible thing here is that what we actually want, what is true to our
highest aspirations, what is an expression of the true nature of our
consciousness, is always an expression of unconditional love.
That is our highest, spiritual nature - the wonderful aspect that we each have
as a human being. Yes, every single one of us, even our dotty neighbor and
especially our rebellious child. And it is the challenge we each have, to
rediscover and express our true self in this life. Only then will we die content.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Our Ascending Needs
Those who seek the frontiers of their creativity and who strive to reach higher
levels of consciousness and wisdom, were described by Maslow as
'self-realizing' individuals. He described a hierarchy of human needs in which
our basic survival is the first priority, and the needs concerned with our
highest potential follow on when other needs have been met.
We all have needs for oxygen, food, water and a relatively constant body
temperature. These needs are the strongest because if deprived, we would
die. Our safety is the next priority: children often display signs of insecurity
and their need to be safe. Adults, too, need the security of a home and means
of income, and often have an underlying fear that these may be lost, e.g. in
war or times of social unrest, or due to misfortune.
We have mastery needs: to be able to get our own way, to establish some
control over our situation and environment, to express some degree of
personal power, to be able to communicate and obtain objectives. And we
have needs for love, affection and belonging. People need to escape feelings
of loneliness and alienation and to give (and receive) love and affection, and
to have a sense of belonging with high quality communication (with
understanding and empathy).
People then need to feel good about themselves, to feel that they have earned
the respect of others, in order to feel satisfied, self confident and valuable. If
these self-esteem needs are not met, a person may feel inferior, weak,
helpless and worthless.
Maslow describes self-realization as a person's need to be and do that for
which the person has a vocation. It is his 'calling', a full expression of his or
her creative potential, of their true self. If not moving along this path, the
person feels restless and frustrated, even if successful in other respects.
One reason that a person does not move through the needs to self-realization
is because of the hindrances placed in their way by society. For example,
education can act to inhibit a person's potential (though also of course equally
it can promote personal growth). So can other aspects of the family and
culture act to condition and funnel an individual into a role that is not fulfilling.
To escape this conditioning, a person has to awaken to their situation, to
realize that their life could be different, that there are changes that can be
made in the direction of self-realization.
To promote our personal growth, we can learn to be authentic, to be aware
of our inner selves and to hear our inner feelings and needs. We can begin to
transcend our own cultural conditioning and become world citizens. We can
help our children discover their talents and creative skills, to find the
appropriate career and complementary partner. We can demonstrate that life
is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and that if one is open
to seeing the good - and humorous - in all kinds of situations, this makes life
worth living.
Beyond self-realization we have a need for higher truth - the need to make
contact with the creative force that is beyond the human personality, to make
sense of all the suffering and injustices of the survival struggle on earth. This
need has been evident in all cultures, expressed by all religions, and is the
spiritual path towards enlightenment, towards knowing God and one's self as
God, towards discovering the truth of All That Is.
It is only by having at least a glimmer of this spirituality that we each are part
of, that we can aspire to the highest potential of being human. To be able to
genuinely love and to forgive unconditionally, we need to see in all others -
even our enemies - the same essential quality that we ourselves are part of.
Spirituality is a transpersonal quality, it is beyond the ego and obsession with
the self. It is the maturity of intuition.
The path of personal transformation is primarily a process of becoming aware
of, facing up to and taking responsibility for one's thoughts, feelings and
actions, and then expanding this self-realization by communicating with
others, retaining integrity whatever the response, and further enhancing the
quality of communication with ever-increasing empathy and understanding.
Through understanding others better, we can recognize their essential
goodwill, however misguided it might have become, and begin to recognize
the spirituality of humankind.
=====================================
Peter Shepherd is a transpersonal psychologist living in France. He runs the
personal development website Tools for Transformation, which includes
many resources for transformation of body, mind and spirit - including his full
book 'Transforming the Mind' available freely online and for PDF download,
and a popular free weekly newsletter. For details of these and much more
please click here... http://www.trans4mind.com/
www.reinventingmyself.com/peter_shepherd.html
----------------------------------------------------------
Transformation occurs when we realize that our existing solutions, assumed
truths and past decisions are unrealistic or that they are unnecessarily
self-limiting. This new insight allows us to view our life from a more
appropriate and empowering perspective.
One of the foundations of transformational psychology is Abraham Maslow's
theory of human needs. He believed that people are not merely controlled by
their circumstances nor by their unconscious instinctual impulses. Maslow
preferred to focus on our potential for creativity, believing that humans strive
to express their capabilities fully, that they need this expression, and that
fulfilling this creative need is the basis for happiness.
Whatever our astrological sign, our cultural conditioning, our numerological
disposition, our parents' genes, our situation and circumstances, our
education or lack of it -- we may consider these as limitations, or we may be
more open-minded. The truth is that these factors really don't matter if we
have a vision that inspires us enough and provides the energy we need to
overcome any obstacles, so we can manifest our creation in the world we
share.
For a vision or dream to be inspiring and energizing, it needs to be what we
really want. Not something designed to please others or to fulfill their
expectations.
The incredible thing here is that what we actually want, what is true to our
highest aspirations, what is an expression of the true nature of our
consciousness, is always an expression of unconditional love.
That is our highest, spiritual nature - the wonderful aspect that we each have
as a human being. Yes, every single one of us, even our dotty neighbor and
especially our rebellious child. And it is the challenge we each have, to
rediscover and express our true self in this life. Only then will we die content.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Our Ascending Needs
Those who seek the frontiers of their creativity and who strive to reach higher
levels of consciousness and wisdom, were described by Maslow as
'self-realizing' individuals. He described a hierarchy of human needs in which
our basic survival is the first priority, and the needs concerned with our
highest potential follow on when other needs have been met.
We all have needs for oxygen, food, water and a relatively constant body
temperature. These needs are the strongest because if deprived, we would
die. Our safety is the next priority: children often display signs of insecurity
and their need to be safe. Adults, too, need the security of a home and means
of income, and often have an underlying fear that these may be lost, e.g. in
war or times of social unrest, or due to misfortune.
We have mastery needs: to be able to get our own way, to establish some
control over our situation and environment, to express some degree of
personal power, to be able to communicate and obtain objectives. And we
have needs for love, affection and belonging. People need to escape feelings
of loneliness and alienation and to give (and receive) love and affection, and
to have a sense of belonging with high quality communication (with
understanding and empathy).
People then need to feel good about themselves, to feel that they have earned
the respect of others, in order to feel satisfied, self confident and valuable. If
these self-esteem needs are not met, a person may feel inferior, weak,
helpless and worthless.
Maslow describes self-realization as a person's need to be and do that for
which the person has a vocation. It is his 'calling', a full expression of his or
her creative potential, of their true self. If not moving along this path, the
person feels restless and frustrated, even if successful in other respects.
One reason that a person does not move through the needs to self-realization
is because of the hindrances placed in their way by society. For example,
education can act to inhibit a person's potential (though also of course equally
it can promote personal growth). So can other aspects of the family and
culture act to condition and funnel an individual into a role that is not fulfilling.
To escape this conditioning, a person has to awaken to their situation, to
realize that their life could be different, that there are changes that can be
made in the direction of self-realization.
To promote our personal growth, we can learn to be authentic, to be aware
of our inner selves and to hear our inner feelings and needs. We can begin to
transcend our own cultural conditioning and become world citizens. We can
help our children discover their talents and creative skills, to find the
appropriate career and complementary partner. We can demonstrate that life
is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and that if one is open
to seeing the good - and humorous - in all kinds of situations, this makes life
worth living.
Beyond self-realization we have a need for higher truth - the need to make
contact with the creative force that is beyond the human personality, to make
sense of all the suffering and injustices of the survival struggle on earth. This
need has been evident in all cultures, expressed by all religions, and is the
spiritual path towards enlightenment, towards knowing God and one's self as
God, towards discovering the truth of All That Is.
It is only by having at least a glimmer of this spirituality that we each are part
of, that we can aspire to the highest potential of being human. To be able to
genuinely love and to forgive unconditionally, we need to see in all others -
even our enemies - the same essential quality that we ourselves are part of.
Spirituality is a transpersonal quality, it is beyond the ego and obsession with
the self. It is the maturity of intuition.
The path of personal transformation is primarily a process of becoming aware
of, facing up to and taking responsibility for one's thoughts, feelings and
actions, and then expanding this self-realization by communicating with
others, retaining integrity whatever the response, and further enhancing the
quality of communication with ever-increasing empathy and understanding.
Through understanding others better, we can recognize their essential
goodwill, however misguided it might have become, and begin to recognize
the spirituality of humankind.
=====================================
Peter Shepherd is a transpersonal psychologist living in France. He runs the
personal development website Tools for Transformation, which includes
many resources for transformation of body, mind and spirit - including his full
book 'Transforming the Mind' available freely online and for PDF download,
and a popular free weekly newsletter. For details of these and much more
please click here... http://www.trans4mind.com/
www.reinventingmyself.com/peter_shepherd.html
----------------------------------------------------------
| Heal your Heart, Love your Body and Live your Joy! Articles by Sonya Green are now available in paperback and as an ebook. Click the book cover to find out more. Paypal secure payment. |