I was reminiscing recently about our December conference in Hilton Head.
We don’t host it anymore, but one moment made a lasting impact on me, and certainly touched many of the practitioners attending, too.
It’s a song called If I Were Brave, by Jana Stanfield. Jana, a talented singer/songwriter, performed this inspiring song at a couple of our conferences.
It asks each of us what we would do today if we had the courage to do it.
Take a moment to listen – I think you’ll like some of the real-life bravery “stories” in this video.
When I hear Jana’s words in this song, I can’t help but reflect on my own issues with bravery.
You see, we often expect our clients to change their behavior. We want them to try new things, get past their limits, and push themselves to make a change.
This is at the heart of the work we do.
But when it comes to looking at our own lives in the same light, that’s where many of us recoil a bit at the thought of big risks … and big change.
Now, I want you to ask the question. What new direction would you head in “if you were brave?” Are there ways in which you currently stop yourself from taking risks? Do you have beliefs about yourself or about the world that hold you back?
Please leave a comment below and tell us what you would do today if you were brave.
Oh how wonderful all the peoples stories shown were so beautiful very emotive .I am ever learning and changing and have many brave things I know for me to still achieve and I hope to still accomplish .I am mindful of my Bravery every single day from the smallest to the biggest challenge and changes I make from I was a child and into adulthood and in my senior years .
I am so grateful for this awareness in how being brave helps me grow ,I am most grateful for this gift you have sent Ruth within the song and the stories.Thank you
Thank You loving Nicamb institute, thank you Ruth,
If I were brave I would write on this page without fear about spelling mistakes
If I would be brave I would take a new job, I would try to get more education and spend money on that, I would not even spend one thought about my age 50+ to old to learn to old to … , I would go abroad get special training, I would ceep my heart open to the new situation in my private life, I would not care about what somebody thinks reading this, I would not be afraid to look like XXXolder, I love all these brave woman and men writing here and their pictures, it is so encuraging and I wrote the question down on a buntes paper to ask myself again why isn t it possible??? dont be afraid!!
What Is Addiction ??? It is a shame//a secret///that bhorets you yet you continue to participate. I had an addition. It robbed me of health///money///and precious family time. I hid it or so I thought .. it is probably not even considered a big deal and I miss it ..I think now of all the times I took away precious family moments that I can never have back because you do not let anyone see you when you engage I see that this ??? was just posted and it spoke to my heart . so it must mean that I must be helping someone .. You must be saying .. what was her addiction . well, it was smoking. I smoked for over 30 years and I have been smoke free for 4 years (on March 15th) . actually, I never forgot what day I quit and it is a special day to me. I feel wonderful no more hiding .I do not smell and I always seem to have $$$$ in my pocket the only bad thing is that now I am very sensitive to smells and I do not like being near people who smoke because they smell realllllllllllly bad !!!!!!
WHOW, JUST LOVE ALL THE COMMENTS, READING THEM BROUGHT SO MUCH TO LIGHT FOR ME, THANK YOU TO YOU ALL.. iF i WERE BRAVE ENOUGH i WOULD ALLOW MYSELF TO START AND THINK AGAIN, WHAT WOULD i LIKE TO DO…
If I were brave ,I would immigrate to more open countries in order to study freely about whatever I like,although in a bottom of my heart I know this is only a dream ,a childish dream,that somewhere else you will be better& you will be freed.the real & difficult bravery is accepting yourself for what you are isn’t it?
Thank you so much for this question ,which lead all of us to introspection.
If I were brave I would stop being afraid to jump into a relation with
a man that is waiting for me since we met 5 years ago and start
loving him with out holding me back. I devoted all my life to dance
escaping to this my fear… I’m 62 and is time to overcome it?!
If I were brave, I would listen to and act upon all the advice I have always given to others and leave an extremely abusive ‘marriage.’ If I were brave, I would do this knowing without a doubt that somehow, I would be ok. If I were brave, I would love myself enough to protect myself. If I were brave, I would release all fear of the unknown and live the life I deserve.
Dianne. May you be brave. Perhaps the website hotpinkpages.com can help you feel a little braver.
If I werre brave…..I would complete my yoga teacher training and stand up and teach. If I were brave, I would audition for a choir. If I were brave, I would pack my bags and move to the south of France, even though I don’t speak the language. If I were brave, I would write and let others read my work. If I were brave, I’d invite a romantic relationship in to my life.
Thankyou.
I am a physician in private practice that had the good fortune of obtaining an excellent traditional medical education. I learned my trade well and I am very good at using drugs, surgery and diagnostic devices to truly help my patients.
But I am also what might be called a medical intuitive. I often know what is wrong with my patients even as I enter the exam room and before I start talking to or examining them. I have also learned to effectively use “energetic healing” techniques that are in complete conflict with both my undergraduate training in physics and my medical education. I see quite clearly that past traumas are often the source of mental illness or physical symptoms and disease.
I would not say I lack courage. What I do lack is the certainty of how to better integrate what I know and what I can do into a traditional medical practice where my patients expect only advice, medications and surgery to deal with their complaints and ills. I could start doing lectures to the public in the evenings. I could just speak my mind candidly when I am asked: “How did I get this disease?” Or I could even leave my medical practice altogether and try to embark on a new career writing and lecturing. All these possible changes would take courage. I can muster the courage. My real problem lay in not knowing what is best.
Thanks for the question, Ruth. It gave me a nice opportunity to get this off my chest a little. And, who knows, maybe I might get some feedback or useful advice!
Chuck
I know exactly where you are coming from Chuck,
How does one even function at all within the medical profession with any unconventional views?
I can’t pretend to your level of perception as a medical intuitive- but I have spent many years applying the “correct medical protocols” to patients correctly identified as belonging to the category to which that protocol should apply, and being very disappointed with the results.
There are real dangers in trying to straddle the conventional scene and the unconventional/intuitive/ energetic model.
May I suggest a pseudonym when trying anything adventurous?
In the meantime- I have found the book “Matrix Energetics” by the chiropractor Dr Richard Bartlett, to be a very interesting source of information.
I am also very much intrigued by Rupert Sheldrake- especially his recent work on “The Science Delusion” which examines many of the unexamined dogmas behind current science. He has a number of long lectures on You Tube.
Like you, I am not courageous enough to attach my surname to this post!
Thanks, Andrew, I will look up these books. It seems there are more and more excellent books and teachings by people with new and controversial insights. It seems that many of our traditional and
widely shared assumptions are no longer helping us move forward. They may have been helpful in the past, but now they seem to be limiting us rather than helping.
Dear Chuck,
I really liked your thinking and approach of your work, especially the use of your intuition which helps you see the other as a human being first rather than as a ‘patient’. You might find the ideas in the area of Anthroposophic medicine interesting; check out Emerson College Uk, including the work by John Lees – one of our most inspirational lecturers. I am currently finishing my MA in Psychotherapy at Leeds University and trying to be brave in the way I wish to present my research (!)
Thanks, Soula. I am not familiar with anthroposophic medicine, but I will see what I can find.
Transforming my fear with love and posting this here:
A healing modality that could be of interest to many, Soul Healing : drsha.com
Sharing with others the wonder and awe of living on this beautiful earth through my photography.
I just was brave and am still shaking from the devastating aftereffect, the terror i stalled somewhere in my body during my bravery. In a dysfunctional family all relationships are dysfunctional. In mine, i the youngest, with the most severe complex ptsd, rad, did. A 12 year older sister, always the obsessively controlling one, who confiscated my mother till beyond the grave. Again and again i was necessitated to withdraw from this toxic family. But after the death of my mother i tried to strike up a relationship with that sister again. More and more she became controlling. Ordering me to go visit my other elder sister, when in hospital. Then she made me pay more the my share in taxes, for the inheritance of my mother. And possibly for the first time, i criticised her action in writing an email. After my 4th one, about the same subject, whicht brought up all kind of past issues, i collapsed and had to retreat from the contact. Just now her husband called me, accusing me of destroying her in a screaming fit, then threw down the telephone. My bravery consists of calling him right back. I was then accused of causing my own complex ptsd and that my suffering interested him not at all. I was living in the past and that was it. When asking him whether he thought the same about Holocaustsurvivors, having just organised a trip for schoolchildren to a concentrationcamp in Westerbork, the Netherlands was the same thing, living in the past, his reply was: Of course not, when confronting him how, as a christian, he could say he did not care at all about someone elses suffering, mine, he just did not care. Afterwards i broke down and called my son, who is calm and balanced, to calm me down. Further bravery would be, to not let the accusation sink in in my brain, like all the accusations in my childhood did. The worst one being, that i was a devils child, and noone would ever be able to love me. I was then 4 years of age. Possibly worse then the ptsd is this incapacity of my whole environment to let me be who i have become with and because of prenatal ptsd. Scientists can find that the brains of children suffering from neglect are smaller, yet people, who never read a book, never listened to a seminar know better and have a better diagnosis, while not holding a degree. You live in the past, you caused it.
If I were brave, I would quit having anxiety about whether or not I will be able to build a full practice. If I were brave, I would ‘trust’ that it will come to me and that I am worthy of it.
Thanks for posting something so challenging and beautiful
Profound and very useful question. I’d rather not share my answer, but I’ve been resisting it for a while and I’m planning to act on it within the next few weeks.
Inspiring video also. I like that it was all women too.
Mary,
Love your idea. What an exquisitely beautiful machine that would be.
Ruth , thank-you for posing this question .the answers have bee. Stunningly beautiful .
Thank-you for these webinars and your skillful guidance of all the talks.
Ruth,
That video is awesome – so inspiring. We have to find our passion and then just go for it. Life is to be lived. Fear stops ups unnecessarily. Being brave makes life beautiful and really worth living.
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
I would leave my current job, taking with me the wisdom, knowledge, and skills to start up a therapeutic preschool. This would be a place for children to heal and learn the things they need to learn to be successful (and not just with ABCs!) when they start school. Caregivers would be nurtured and cared for and taught skills themselves, that would allow them to build up the relationship with their children and continue to do the hard job of parenting…feeling supported and more connected in to others.
CORRECTION
I just re-read my post. I meant I hadn’t done more than 6 months of high school in England, as a kid. I left school at about 11 or 12 to work on a farm and only went back when the school bobby caught me. When I came to Australia at 14 I was not allowed to go to school. I had to work. When I was 24 and my girls started school I went to the local high school and did what was then VCE.
So inspiring and encouraging. It makes me appreciate how God has raised me up. After a childhood filled with complex trauma, Leaving primary school to work in my new country Australia, a single mum with two daughters I went back to high school to do year 11. The next year I cared for my abusive father who had been disabled in an accident. The next year (I think) I got into LaTrobe University and did a BA and Dip ED whilst doing many menial jobs and raising my kids. Worked as an ESL teacher then school manager then did my BEd, Cert 4 is AWT. Remarried at 39, had a daughter at 40. Was intermittently active in church ministry for 14 years. Worked as a temp teacher even though I had never studied more than 6months of high school. 5 years ago I was disabled with RA and then aquired other conditions. By the grace of God I found the best specialists and am now mobile. 3 years ago worked in a trauma support group. I am now 66 with two talented and still married daughters, one working towards a great teaching career and five grandkids. I am in my practicum year of a Grad Dip in counseling working in a local counseling clinic with trauma clients. The best bit! None of it was wasted. I am evidence that there is always HOPE! Nothing my clients tell me is a shock. Thank you for the video I had forgotten. I praise God for what I have done in my life.
After two dreadful legal episodes, one in the Family Law Court and another after having been brought to the attention of the Medical Board of NSW – I had stood up whilst working in a government department and told the truth when my professional colleagues were being criticised by the corporate management. I was later branded a whistleblower, though that had never been my intention. As the old doctors at the Board refused to let me explain what had happened, even though I was accompanied by some of my medical colleages, it was two years before they closed the case, without so much as an apology. By then, I was suffering from severe PTSD. Luckily, I was treated in Sydney by a female physician who had studied with Dr Bessel van der Kolk. Having slowly got better, it is my mission to write a book about PTSD for the man in the street. It will contain my presonal story about narcissistic abuse and domestic violence but will also contain all the latest research from conferences I have attended and webinars and journal articles I have been able to follow up, to show just how it can happen to anyone from any walk of life and that with the right help, they, too, can recover. In Australia, at this time, it is still only really seen as something that happens to military personnel.
Mary who is the therapist in Sydney?
Just what I needed this day! Mary Oliver’s words came back to me as I listened and read: “After a cruel childhood, one must reinvent oneself. Then reimagine the world….having chosen to claim my life, I have made for myself, out of work and love, a handsome life.”
A lot of precious souls along the way held out their hands, opened their hearts and truly saw me and knew/reminded me I was brave in those moments I doubted…thankyou!
Being brave today to tell you to leave your hair alone! It is BEAUTIFUL, just like your list!
Great song! If I were brave, I would find the time to write an autobiographical story of my family, something I’ve thought about since I was 10 years old. I’d also find the time to put more exercise into my life.
Dear Ruth,
I have given suggestions, asked qustions, and tried to challenge your speakers in a positive manner but no response from their or your side. For example, there were series of talks by a lady and gentleman on success-tapping. I asked them to define success. I never got any response. Similarly I have given you my suggestions candidly as a professional to the best of my ability but never heard back from you to do me a favor without response.
I still believe you are doing a great job in getting rid of the ignorance of the ignorants, so I applaud you and support you and your work. Thanks
Regards,
Onkar Devgan
If I were brave, there were many things I would–and have–done. The most recent was earning a Doctor of Psychology degree at age 70.
You ARE brave! Well done! Not many people would even attempt what you have succeeded at.
These pieces really set a standard in the indytsru.
If I were brave, I would pursue my dream of dancing, singing and being a puppeteer.
You go, girl! It is never to late…. Live the life you have imagined.
Hugs to you!
Great song, and thank you Ruth B., for all you do.
If I were brave — and I am — I would start a new bodywork modality — Alchemical Alignment: Bodywork for Trauma Resolution and Embodiment of Spirit.
It incorporates ideas from Porges, Levine, Siegel, van der Kolk, (and more) and various bodywork modalities (notably Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy). Feeling the felt sense of health, and resources, and with conscious, precise touch work, mindfully moving through waves of fight, flight and freeze information brought up by the inner being for resolution — moving towards embodied presence and wholeness.
What you propose here is a basic part of the approach called “coaching”, as distinct from counseling or psychotherapy or spiritual paths. The coaching skill comes in by, say, being curious about the “if” part of “If I were brave…”
At 38, I left a loveless but very secure marriage. Took up tennis.
At 39, I went back to university and completed 3 degrees – one of which meant moving to a city across the country where I knew no one. Received my MSW at the age of 45 and began a very rewarding career which was shortened by treating far too much trauma!
At the age of 62, moved to the west coast (where I have always wanted to live) with my old dog. I knew no one here.
At the age of 62 1/2, I took my first dance lesson ever – I had always wanted to learn to ballroom dance, but never had a willing partner. Last week, at the age of almost 66, I was in a ballroom dance competition and got four first place medals.
If I were REALLY brave, I would allow myself to be vulnerable … I would “sing as if no one was listening; dance as if no one was watching; love like I have never been hurt.”
Wow Christina, you are an inspiration to me! I’m 63 and wondering what I want to do when I grow up. Thank you for sharing!
Dear Brave Girl,Being wealthy and propserous is a choice. Hard to believe because who would chose to be poor? But like so many of our destinations in life, we didn’t get there overnight. We got there by making all sorts of little choices and some were unconscious. So how do I get out of there and where I want to be? We recognize our choices then we change them. Sometimes we change them then we recognize them and you’ll understand that better in a moment. So brave heart, where do we begin? Well we have to stop worrying about money. Hard to do when you are in the middle of lack, believe me I know I wasn’t always wealthy but I am now. I struggled for years. You have to stop worrying and if this is your focus for a while it will be the biggest step in the direction you want to go. Well it was for me and it was so transforming that I know it made the difference. So how did I stop worrying? I had to tune my attention to the good things in my life. They could be small or few but I promise as you start looking for them you will find more and more. I started every evening when I went to bed, I thought about all the good things in my life, really mulled over them. Okay so a few of those lack thoughts would slip in like I really appreciate my car and the freedom it affords me from riding the bus. (bicycle/subway whatever fits) Then I’d think, Well if I don’t get the money for the car payment I won’t have that either. Oops, step backwards. That’s okay, I told myself, because its okay to be nice to myself after all I’m doing the best I can. So I tell myself, Erase that last thought and substitute this one; God/Budda/The Universe (insert your belief system as to who makes the world go around) will take care of me! Then I thought about something else good. And if a negative thought slipped in, I’d do my best to catch it, tell myself to erase it (I’d actually visualize myself erasing that thought in my brain) then I’d replace it with a positive one assure myself everything was going to be okay. Well now sometimes I didn’t quite believe it but I kept it up and you need to do that too. One minute at a time, one day at a time, one small step at a time and you’ll get there. How long before I started to see results you ask? The more I did it the better things got. Some special thoughts others shared with me helped. One was, when the beautiful bird I see wakes each morning they are not worried about where their food/water/shelter will come from I don’t need to worry either because the universe will provide for me as long as I beleive. And of course I love Niki’s Just do it. But wait there’s more. When I woke as I was milling around the house getting ready, I started being grateful for the good things I found in my life, and I said to myself that its going to be a good day. I also started doing it throughout the day got a great front row parking spot at the grocery store (lucky me, thank you God/Budda/Universe) I made it right on time to an important meeting (good job girl). But I still found I was hearing negative thoughts during the day. Gosh we think so many thoughts, how do I change that tape recording in my head? Dang, some of them sounded like my mother scolding me ( Good girls don’t get angry. or Nice girls only say nice things, shame on you for saying that. ) Don’t get me wrong, I love my Mom and we are the dearest of friends. Plus it was ME with the tape stuck in my head. Someone wise said, When we are at peace with ourselves nothing anyone else says to us can steal it. But that’s another lesson. Keep going.Well again I knew I had to take action replace that tape but how? I made my own tape. A list really. I found some positive thoughts or affirmations I wanted to believe about me and my world. You can find these on the internet, in many books, movies etc. If it rings true for you then claim it. Richard Bach (author of Jonathan Livingston Seagul) said in his awesome book Illusions; The truth is where you find it. So true! Anyway some of my favorites are Every day in every way I’m getting better and better. and I am a beautiful, loving child of God and I express my divine self perfectly. It was fun to find about a dozen favorites. The number doesn’t matter, however many you find, whatever you want to see in your life. Oh yes, don’t forget to add something about prosperity like one of my original ones was Divine love through me blesses and multiplies all that I am, all that I have, all that I give and all that I receive. My affirmations change over the years as I grow you’ll see what I mean as you grow too. Okay I’ve got this great list, how do I replace the tape? First thing in the morning I write them out or type them out each one three times in a row. Really, is that necessary? Yep! I’m saying them in my head as I write/type them out every day and they start to sink in. Remember we didn’t get here overnight we need to do a little work to get back on course. Because whether or not you believe it right now you are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing you are where you need to be for your soul to learn its life lesson. You deserve all that you desire and you can have it but you need to let yourself have it. We’ve been brought up to believe so many things that don’t serve us. Let’s let them go and lets claim the good for ourselves. Its yours if you really want it but it really is your choice. And remember Winston Churchill’s words as you go along; Never, never, never, never give up! Every failure, error, misstep is an opportunity to start again.So one last direction the list isn’t just for first thing in the morning. As you start writing/typing them out each day they will stick in your head. So when I was walking home from work I’d hear some old tape start in my head Your feet are homely. or You are in this mess because you deserve it. or whatever. When I’d hear it I’d remind myself that is the wrong tape playing and I’d think about my positive thoughts and I’d say everyone I could remember, over and over. Then suddenly I was noticing pretty flowers along the way (Boy Mother Nature, you are awesome, thank you for showing me that.). It didn’t happen overnight but I saw progress the more I focused weekly, sometimes daily, things started to change. And I forgave myself every time I forgot and started my own little pity party. I’d finally remind myself that this isn’t where I want to be and what I’m doing is keeping me here and I’d start again. Hang in there. You’ll start to see results, enjoy those small victories and they will come more and more often. Feel the love when you think about good things. Hold a loved one (child/pet/sister/girlfiriend) and feel the love. And think this is good. Praise yourself when you remember, start again when you forget. And one day, honestly since I was determined and worked at it, it took me just a few months. Some changes started soon but a bit down the road and suddenly things started going really well I didn’t have to think about how it was going to happen, just kept reminding myself that I will get there as long as I keep walking in that direction. Isn’t that how we get anywhere? And keep doing the work even as good things start happening. You’ll see, soon it becomes a habit and you don’t even realize you are doing it. The good tape plays and the bad one is gone. And I have all the money I could possibly need seriously!! But I’m even more wealthy than that. I have a job where people are wonderful and fun and they really care about me. I have many dear friends and some truly awesome soul sisters. I have loved ones around me. I love my world. (Which reminds me Louise Hay has some great tapes/CDs of affirmations, which you can borrow from the library. It was good sometimes to listen to someone else tell me You deserve praise. and all her other fabulous thoughts. She’s also on FB.)And believe it or not I love you. You are me, just where I was just a few years ago. My heart aches for you to have your dreams t
oo. You deserve it. Go for it Brave Girl. You will succeed.
If I were brave, I would make the changes in my routines, habits, and familiar ways I move through my day, in order to better serve a health issue I am working with.
If I were brave…………. I would ask of myself the same things I ask of my clients.
If I were brave…………. I would just as easily identify and address my own areas of need as I do with my clients.
If I were brave…………. I would trust someone before they “earned” that priviledge.
If I were brave ………… I would not allow my depression to have such a significant impact on my life, my family, my friends and even my clients.
If I were brave…………. I would have included my last name.
If we were brave: could we pat ourself on the back for getting up in the morning;
– to keep breathing can be the bravest thing we humans do;
If we were brave we could validate ourselves for being strong
– holding on to what we are ‘depressing’ takes energy (until we don’t need to). Love c.
I would end my re-marriage to my husband We were married 48 years, divorced and re-married 4 years later. It is not working for me. We have nothing in common. The ways he “said” he had changed did not last. Money is my barrier.
Anna- So many women are in your position. Being brave is about finding a way to your bliss regardless of the odds. Do you have a house, retirement, social security, a job or anything that could allow you to live modertely with a roof over your head? If you can do that, the hardest part, it is a good start. I wish you luck, and the courage to take the first (baby) step toward your next wonderful, peaceful life.
WOW!!! I would tell her its not her fault that she has a disease that no mteatr how hard she tries, she cannot control it. That she NEVER has to use again, that she can be FREE from active addiction, that she can love again and feel loved again, that she no longer has to live with guilt and shame, that their is a way better way to live; no more isolation, insanity and lying, cheating and stealing., that 100% for sure, weather she believes it or not, a Higher Power is keeping her here for a reason. That she has a purpose .and all she has to do is ask for help I would tell her these things and so much more becuase I AM HER and someone told me these things and I took a chance. Today 15 months clean and sober .what a gift.
Dear Ruth,
I really liked this question you posed to us all today. It gave me pause to see there is still more actions I need to take that need bravery on my part. How motivating and inspiring to hear the song and read all the comments.
if I were brave enough I would open my authentic self up to my daughter and be vulnerable.
Thank you Ruth for all the webinars too..I love them.
OMG…if I were brave (NO WAIT– intelligent, healthy, accepted, listened to, confident, motivated AND brave)
Dangerous question, but you asked!
Talk about SELFISH and Narcissistic!
I would invent a birthing sling and sell it to hospitals across the country- Gravity is an up to down phenom! What were OBGYN’s thinking?
I would educate young mothers about the Continuum Concept- natural birthing,carrying babies on their person and breastfeeding until age one–for infant’s need for motion and mirrored social development
I would teach the bennies of solar diet
I would create a classroom template that bolsters kids capabilities, not focused on their deficits.
I would get 3 degrees in Neurology, Psychology, and Web Design
I would take an ongoing watercolor class with focus on depth perspective
I would talk to Dr. OZ about his crooked nose and left eye. I don’t think he had his CRANIUM Rolfed!
I would dare to DO the interpersonal marketing exercises in Marie Forleo’s B-school
I would attempt again to find a mate who is FIRST my friend
I would color my hair with some flare
I would reduce my body mass to fat ratio
I would find a doc who does *cosmetic* bunion surgery
I would master couples dance with someone close to my size
I would take belly dancing and voice lessons and speak at Toastmasters
I would write my autobiography and some children’s books
I would design and engineer a ultra light green furniture line with the elegance of Martha Stewart
I would design and manufacture a line of clothing for older women
I would design a line of earrings
I would live by a warm water beach and go belly surfing a lot
I would buy a palapa in Yelapa
I would travel to exotic places like Borneo and the coast of Sao Paulo
I would be a patron of the arts and devoted to saving wild animals and trees
I would find true friends with common interests
I would change the face of medicine and psychological therapy–minus drugs and labels
I would alter public responsibility-taking– for stigmatization, war, bullying, domestic violence, importance of incubation-birth
I would change the punishment for crimes to required intensive therapy for consciousness
If I were brave I would go back to college and earn my Masters or PhD. I would ignore the fear that I am too old to learn again in a structured environment. I would ignore the idea that if I spend money on education I won’t have enough to survive. I would not fear failure and that I will waste both time and money on an education to become a therapist which I may never feel confident or competent to use. I would stop thinking I am not good enough to help other people because I have been through so much trauma myself. I have lived my life in fear because of a non-supportive violent childhood. It seemed it would never end and I learned so little in childhood other than basic survival that I almost searched out survival mode as an adult. I have overcome so much and am afraid if I try to help others it will pull me back into that life I have worked so hard to leave behind. I would not be afraid of decisions large and small. I would not fear that I will die with my music still in me.
Nancy, there is always hope! You have so much to offer. Please read my post above. I pray that it will encourage you.
When I was stuck 10 years ago I attended a 5 months program that radically changed my life and set me back on my feet again. That program has become part of my regular coaching with great success so far.
That program taught us all about ourselves, our fears and how paralyzing that is. It helped us transform those fears into something positive, it taught us to get rid of them.
So in January when a lady came to me with a unique idea for a program including her doubts and fears of how to go about it, I jumped onto the opportunity without much thought actually, I simply followed the dictates of my heart. Although my lack of fear has my lady friend quite confused at times, here we are today having set up a unique pilot program in 2 schools to give emotional coaching to specifically selected children for their vulnerability and their disruption in their classroom. We have been booking great progress in the past 3 months and today when I evaluated the types of challenges these children present, this was my count: children with ADD, ADHD, PTSD and childhood trauma and children on the autistic spectrum . Not bad right?
Fear? Don’t think so. Love? YESSSS in abundance.
If I were brave I would open my heart and love with all I’ve got.
God bless you ALL. If I were brave I’d stop second-guessing myself–shouldn’t have said this, shouldn’t have done that, what will people think, delete, delete, delete…..
If I were brave, and if I could “do math” I would invent an Undialer Machine. It would sort of be like an x-ray machine for the emotional life of people. This machine would have a special way to seek out the heat of emotional pain and would simultaneously treat the pain by undialing it in a way that the “patient” would have complete and total physical, emotional and spiritual understanding—and relief. My machine would use the energy of the person it focuses on to loop back into the mass of the energy that’s been damaged and pull it forward like a thread on a string! Many brave and intelligent psychologists have tried to do this by using their own bodies as Undialer Machines, but my machine would be In The Outer Realm so that even a young child could better see the process of hurting and healing that … well, that is the Process That Keeps Humanity In The Cycle of Learning.
Hmmmm. It took some courage even to write this, but thanks for the opportunity!
What a terrific concept/image, Mary!! I’d sign up for that in a heartbeat. 😀 Keep at it, ‘K?!
If I were brave…… I would forget that I retired December 2012 on my 80th birthday. And then I would tell my family and friends I’m not too old to go back and begin anew in this new approach to trauma. Do I have the courage to open an office gain, get a new website, etc., and this I’m not too sure.
Jim, I hope you do. We need you out there. I am 68 still working and if I were brave I would stop dreaming about my next venture and risk the unknown too! Please know that I wish for you as I wish for myself and all of us who have accumulated so much wisdom and experience the strength to believe your ability to serve the planet NOW. Sounds like your inner guidance is nudging you, listen, listen, listen.
Oh, you go for it Jim in Arlington TX and hope and retired in Seattle,WA! At age 68 I signed up for training in mind body skills with the Center of Mind Body Medicine and at age 70 returned to work as an arbitrator. After a 15 year hiatus from professional life to be a caregiver for a family member, I now feel fulfilled and living my purpose and use my mind body skills for myself and attend a mind body skills group facillitated by the CMBM founder and director Dr. James Gordon, as support in Newtown CT for residents, doctors, and clinicians who work with first responders and families of the victims of 12/14/12. Best wishes to you
My grand daughter is currently very ill with a rare disease. My daughter is in another city at the hospital with her and I am being the mother to her other children at the age of 67. I am being brave by keeping them safe and as happy as they can be and keeping POSITIVE that my grand daughter will heal fast and fully.
Thank you for the inspiration to keep up my “brave” spirits.
After undergoing two open heart surgeries, now I face one to see if I have cancer. To me, being brave is to be present to all of my feelings in a mindful way. All the fear and sadness. And yet maintain the mindset that I am held by the Divine. My childhood was one of catastrophic trauma so for me to “stay” and trust I’m not alone is the bravest I can be.
If I were brave today, I’d throw caution to the wind and…
pack up or get rid of my possessions, try living where I have
old friends to see if the community I hope for IS and if it
were not, pick up and move again. I am over 70 and live
on very limited resources so I’d have to trust the universe to
support me should my quest fail and I loose the resources I have
I appreciate the question.
Thank you for that beautiful song. So inspiring. Thank you.
I will continue to support women and men affected by Trauma and will work to bring people of different cultures and communities together to realize the oneness of us all.
I first heard Jana after I was brave enough to recruit a colleague and get permission to create a wellness program in an agency filled with high stress. Then we were brave enough to ask for time off to go to a workshop in Waterville Valley NH where we heard Jana sing this truly inspirational song. I have passed it on and taught it to many women in women’s groups. Then I was brave enough to open Innerpeace Healing Arts a private practice dedicated to serving clients and colleagues facing the stress and trauma of life.
Thank you for the inspiration Jana and for the wonderful reminder Ruth.
Peace,
Susan
I would build a reciprocal and responsive relationship with my múmia brothers.I would stand up byrne myself to advocate my beliefs
Wow what an inspirational song & video that could not have been timed better. Everyone should have a copy!! If I were brave I would be progressing my desire to set up a service accessible to all which would be all about greater understanding, new resources & empowerment – waking up to who we really are & realising at least a little of our true potential.
Thank you for taking me one step further.
I’ve always been brave because I was my feminine side was so timid I couldn’t affordford toand my colonel Dad trained me in the ways of combat. From there I learned Tai Chi having taken ballet lessons for many years appearing dainty I modelled and became an activist after early childhood teaching.My computer is eating my words so bes I can do is say I’d’ve gone to the Peace Corps or NYCITY Ballet instead Teaching and marriage.
Aloha. If I were brave, I’d quit my state job and concentrate on my private practice. I’d leave the fear of failure and fear of fear far behind and embrace my faith in the universe to support my successful future.
live in gratitude …
how do i do that?
i am still learning, failing every day, learning every day?, not giving up
If I were brave I would ignore my breathing problems joint pains and other body discomforts. If I were brave I would walk in the trails and feel the wind on my face.i would walk and walk and walk. If I were brave I would limit what I put in my body and relish in whole foods to lose weight. If I were brave I would love myself with purpose and gentleness. If i were brace i would love others with kindness a compassion.
Thank you for these beautiful stories and ideas. I am thinking now what are my own brave ideas and actions. I have power enough to think about it! And dream as well.
what 18th scale rc do you think would be or is the best my budget is 350 after taxes or close to it. also how long can I store a li-po on a full cgrhae. I broke the speed control for my savage flux after a bad landing on the lid need to get a new one and a mini and try to keep it under 350 wife is really mad wants to kill me