{"id":5738,"date":"2017-04-03T00:37:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T00:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelamplighters.org\/llblog01\/?p=5738"},"modified":"2017-04-03T00:37:31","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T00:37:31","slug":"awareness-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelamplighters.org\/llblog01\/awareness-2\/","title":{"rendered":"AWARENESS"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is an excerpt from Chapter Eight of my book Repair Your Life. It is titled Awareness. REPA<\/u><\/strong>IR\u00a0 is an acronym for the stages of the program and Awareness is step four.<\/em><\/p>\n

Understanding is the key, \u00a0Acceptance is the door.<\/em><\/p>\n

Socrates, one of the world’s greatest philosophers, once said, An unexamined life is not worth living.\u00a0 <\/em>Much truth lies in those words as well as much power.\u00a0 In this chapter, you will need to draw on this to understand the importance of Awareness.<\/em><\/p>\n

The quality of becoming aware includes many components.\u00a0 Sensibility, prudence, knowledge, visualization, feeling, and foresight are a few.\u00a0 They are siblings in the same family, gifts given to humans at birth.\u00a0 With these gifts, a human can be and do all to which they aspire.\u00a0 Let’s take a closer look at these qualities before we proceed to see what part they played in our childhood sexual abuse issue.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sensibility<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the marks of sensibility is the capacity to reason, to use your head and think things through.\u00a0 It is an invaluable tool to have by your side as you journey through life.\u00a0 A sensible person makes wiser decisions.\u00a0 He doesn’t react, he responds.\u00a0 He knows he can take all the time in the world to make a choice, and because he can, he makes the best choice possible.<\/p>\n

Prudence<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Without reason or sensibility, one cannot have prudence.\u00a0 Prudence is cautious, not headstrong and impulsive.\u00a0 Prudence doesn’t get one in situations that leave scars, because it’s skilled in good judgment and knows all the resources available.\u00a0 Prudence uses that reason to discipline itself and once disciplined, life falls into order rather than chaos. One finds peace and tranquility in that order.<\/p>\n

Knowledge<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Knowledge gathers experiences and sorts through them for the right answers.\u00a0 Knowledge is cognizant of the full range of truths available in one’s life.\u00a0 Knowledge investigates, observes, and studies not only human nature, but the nature of things and the nature of the universe.\u00a0 In the gathering of this knowledge one gains power, especially personal power.<\/p>\n

Visualization<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The ability to see all that you know, bringing it to life so that you can choose your next step, is a rare but not impossible quality.\u00a0 Vision, throughout the ages, has progressed men from the humblest backgrounds to some of the greatest positions on earth.\u00a0 On a smaller scale, visualization forms mental images that propel us into our dreams.\u00a0 Without visualization, we have no dreams.\u00a0 Create a vision, then step into it.<\/p>\n

Feeling<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The capacity to respond emotionally to everything that happens in our life is a strength, not a weakness.\u00a0 People who are aware of what is happening in their universe can feel.\u00a0 Feelings bond us to others, give us drive, protect us against wrongs, offer the gifts of humor, pathos, joy, and sorrow.\u00a0 Even sorrow has a healing property necessary to becoming a whole person.\u00a0 It is not feelings that get people in trouble, it is the actions they take based on those feelings.<\/p>\n

Foresight<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

This simple act of looking forward takes us from the past to the present and into the future.\u00a0 We can do nothing about what has gone before, but the present, although elusive and shifting, is the arena of change.\u00a0 Healthy choices made in the now will open a future that promises the fulfillment of your God-given potential.<\/p>\n

Now let’s take a look at these Awareness gifts inherent to man and see where they fit into the life of a person who was sexually abused as a child.\u00a0 They don’t. \u00a0When you’re living in a world filled with chaos and trauma, moving from one crisis to another, the sibling qualities of Awareness can do little good.<\/p>\n

Sensibility<\/strong>\u2014how can a person filled with despair begin to put pieces together to find answers that make sense.<\/p>\n

Prudence<\/strong>\u2014once sexually molested, reacting, rather than responding to the daily happenings in our lives is the only tool we know to use, thereby eliminating prudence.\u00a0 Good judgment is a luxury we cannot afford.<\/p>\n

Knowledge<\/strong>\u2014One who is sexually abused as a child may instinctively know the answers but is unable to follow through with the right choices.\u00a0 Knowledge only becomes a powerful tool when utilized in conjunction with the other properties of Awareness.<\/p>\n

Visualization<\/strong>\u2014Who can see anything but hopelessness when all you hear is a child screaming inside of you, when all you know is that nothing ever works out for you?<\/p>\n

Feeling\u2014<\/strong>The wounded child has plenty of feelings, all of them either out of control or locked into that closet in their mind for fear that, once unleashed, they would be uncontrollable.<\/p>\n

Foresight\u2014<\/strong>The emotional growth of a child who has been sexually abused is locked in time at the moment of their trauma.\u00a0 There is no foresight for them, for they see no future, only a despairing past and a chaotic present.<\/p>\n

This is what child sexual abuse has done, robbed us of these six God-given rights.\u00a0 It is our hope that by the time you arrive at this part of REPAIR, you will begin to experience the joy that the components of Awareness bring.\u00a0 They come little by little.\u00a0 One day you realize that you just set a boundary to give yourself time to make a decision.\u00a0 Knowledge combined with prudence and accompanied by foresight gave you a useful tool What a great step!\u00a0 It’s time for another.<\/p>\n

Your decisions seem wiser, partially a result of sensibility.\u00a0 Your old friends (those whose own lives are consumed with the same chaos and despair you used to have), annoyed at you for not being “yourself,” begin to fall away.\u00a0 As they do so an amazing thing happens.\u00a0 You don’t miss them.\u00a0 You’ll begin to realize that you’re on a different road now and you have nothing in common.\u00a0 You’ll also begin making friends that are on the same road, thereby enhancing your ability to complete REPAIR.<\/p>\n

As you move through the program and assemble the pieces to your life, a picture emerges\u2014the pieces to the puzzle that your life has become.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t yet worked the Repair Your Life program now is a great time to start. The book is listed on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.co, and all other online book stores.<\/em><\/p>\n