Hello @Oaktree
Wishing You First, a Very Happy New Year and a Great 2022.
I hear you about resolutions. Waking up on New Year's Day seems to bring with it some sort of ultra-awareness of desires and concerns. This morning, I did wake with thoughts of what I wanted for this year and, mixed in with those was almost a dread consciousness of the issues that I face, both personally and in relation to other people, among family, friends and other interpersonal associations.
Medication issues, benefits and problems are also on the list. One positive over recent months has been a significant reduction in my use of pain mediction. This has, I think, been helpful in terms of both the reduced inhibitory effect, on thinking, and possibly reduction in negative physical effects. The chemist has also had difficulty getting supplies of the Anti-D medication that I take, so that is another issue. However, I will make what I've got spread out and observe the consequences, positive or otherwise.
Your evening introduction to New Year sounds as though it was very pleasant. I do hope that the rest of the year continues to be so. In your resolutions, I note that you have referred to the practice of acceptance. It is interesting that we often think of acceptance as a passive activity. A way of just going with the flow, without resistence. But acceptance can be, I believe, a relatively active process. That might be seen in our active acceptance of ourselves and in such issues as receipt and acceptance of love from others, both those in our most significant relationships and also in our friendships and associations. Here, I am thinking especially of your husband and daughter. Receiving and acceptance are often lumped together into that "passive basket". And yet, receiving and accepting can be very active processes, where we actively participate in an expressive exchange of feelings and desires. That exchange can be experienced as a mainly internal process, an external process, or ranging between the two. Unfortunately, because we have become accustomed to diminishing the process of receiving and accepting to passive processes, we can have lost the significance and value of active receiving and accepting, both of what we have to offer ourselves and to others. We can reach a stage where we think that offering and giving are of value but receiving and accepting are of less, or no value. I think, that we need to expand those perspectives. I believe that those thoughts may have an impact on how you process at least four of your resolutions for this year.
My reslutions probably incorporate the same theme of offering and giving and receipt and acceptance. It will be a matter of consciously building into my reflection of self and my interactions with others, the active processes involved. At this stage, I find it difficult to be specific about how I may accomplish those activities. More thought required.
I look forward to talking with you more if you would like to @Oaktree .
With My Very Best Wishes
@HenryX
