Three Principles Living

Judith A. Sedgeman, EdD

peace of mind Tag

Gratitude: a route to inner peace

Without any plan to do this, I have slipped into the habit, as I lay down to sleep, of thinking of something or someone from the past day for which I am grateful. And then, when I awaken, thinking of something I am grateful to look forward to in the new day. Often, I am surprised by what comes to mind. Almost always, they are small things, or momentary unexpected encounters with people, that elicit a smile and a peaceful feeling. Sometimes, they are big things -- pivotal moments in my life...

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Unmasking the memory terrorist

Many of the new clients I work with who have been in long-term psychological treatment are weary and discouraged. No matter how often and how long they have brought memories to mind, fought them, re-considered them, analyzed them, belittled them, re-enacted them, deconstructed them, reframed them, journaled them -- the memories are still there. So they feel as though they are doomed to a life struggle against traumatic events from their past. They can't change them, and they can't defeat them, so they are stuck in an exhausting standoff,  locked in perpetual battle against an enemy...

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Common Sense or Fear? Our choice.

Every time we get new information, we have a choice what to make of it. That choice has nothing to do with the information. It has to do with whether we understand how we bring our own thinking to life as reality. We don't choose the first thought that comes to mind. But every subsequent related thought and what we make of it is strictly up to us. The more deeply we understand our own spiritual nature, that we are generating our life experience by bringing thoughts to mind and then taking them more...

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“What’s wrong with me?”

Since I have begun seeing clients one-on-one as a Mental Health Mentor, the most frequent questions they ask in the first session are: "What's wrong with me? How did  this happen? Why can't  anyone explain to me what happened to my mind?" For the most part, they've had a lot of therapy. And they've been given diagnoses. But  diagnoses do not explain. Diagnoses describe and label symptom sets. What's eating at people are the WHY? questions. Why can't I just be OK again? How did I go wrong? How do people get chemical...

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What ever happened to peace and love?

What ever happened to peace and love? The answer is nothing has ever happened to peace and love. Peace and love are constants of the nature of all mankind.  Peace and love are the spiritual essence of humanity. Then how do we explain the murderous rage, the boiling resentment, the hatred of "others" spreading across the world? Those things have nothing to do with our spiritual nature. They are the products of insecure thinking unrestrained, misleading multitudes into vortices of fear. It looks hopeless to many that mankind will ever live at peace, that...

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Enough said

One of the effects of quick and easy electronic communication is that anyone can say anything to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people with a few quick clicks and a press of the "send" button, without even a moment's pause. We've lost the value of allowing time and space for reflection to frame and produce our comments. Who asks themselves these questions any more: Do I need to say this? Is this valuable? Is this the best way to say it? Is this what I really want to say?...

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