Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Christmas Message: Let's Aim for Peace of Mind, Holism, and Selflessness


Christmas Message: Let's Aim for Peace of Mind, Holism, and Selflessness
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog


UST Paskuhan's giant Christmas Tree and its reflection on floodwater.
  To our beloved followers and visitors of this Blog, students and radio listeners, friends - and all.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
From: Dr Abe and Mrs Cecille Rotor; Marlo and Charisse and Laurence; Anna and Mac and Mackie; Marchus; Leo Carlo, and Manang Veny.
- Ka Melly and staff of DZRB Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, and Family
- Co-workers and faculty members, UST, AdMU, SPUQC, DLSU-D, UPH-R, NFA, ISCC

Wake up every morning a "balanced" person. You must be a perfect square. Look at yourself on the mirror and examine the four attributes of life - mental or intellectual, psychological or emotional, spiritual, and physical well being.

If you are not, be aware of your strength, weaknesses and deficiencies. Learn to adjust, do not delay. If you have colds you need rest. If you feel sad, cheer up. Look at the brighter side of life. Your conscience may be bothering you for whatever reason. Pray. Amend. Seek spiritual advice. Mentally dull? Postpone important decisions. Maybe you need a weekend rest with the family. An outdoor activity? Visit your relatives. Recharge before you run low in energy.

When you have found yourself in a square - perfect or nearly so - you will enjoy Peace of Mind (POM). Peace of mind is the greatest tool in a person's life every day. It is the most potent tool in overcoming tension and stress that we face in our modern world. POM is earned, it does not just come, it is not a matter of luck. It comes after a good rest and sincere prayer. It accompanies joy and hope. And most importantly, it is like light that radiates and shared by others in the family and community.

Our motives in life on the short, medium and long term are defined in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which appears like a stair - actually a ziggurat or tiered pyramid. The physiologic needs form the base. They are survival needs which are often referred to as drives or instincts. They are biological and as such are universal in the living world. So with social motives in many respects.

The primary social unit is the family. It is not made-to-order. It does not come in silver platter. You have to make it yourself. It is in your plan, determination and resolve. Success of the family is the number one criterion to say you are successful in life.

The family expands into community, then into society. Our actions are governed collectively by culture, as a nation, and ultimately, humanity. We are part of that web .

Because we have risen above our instincts and social motives, we search for that elusive meaning of life - life not equated with money and power, but self-actualization and self-fulfillment. When you are there on that pedestal, you among great men and women. You belong to the rank of heroes and martyrs.
How far do we look from where we stand in terms of space and time? Each one has his own perception and perspective. But the general rule is that, the more we have provided ourselves with guarantees in life - job, financial and material things, natural resources around us, concern of others for us, and the like, the farther we look ahead into the future. We look not only for our own good today and tomorrow. We look forward to future of our children, and beyond. We talk of tomorrow when we have enough today. We talk of investment when we have savings.

And the wider our perspective is, the more we expand our concern, concern not about ourselves but for other people we may not even know. We become interested in things happening around the world, even if these do not directly concern us.

We look beyond our fence so to speak, we become interested with what is happening. Not mere spectators but players. Here we realize the meaning of what Shakespeare said, "the world is a stage and each one of us has a role to play."

We no longer live just for life's sake. We make friendship into brotherhood. We care because we love. We are not only citizens of our country, or members of a particular race, religion or creed. We are citizens of the world. ~

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