“I would say that the thrust of my life has been initially about getting free, and then realizing that my freedom is not independent of everybody else. Then I am arriving at that circle where one works on oneself as a gift to other people so that one doesn’t create more suffering. I help people as a work on myself and I work on myself to help people.”
Ram Dass
This resonates with a conversation the writer had with someone recently. She was asked the question: ‘What do you think we are here for?’. Her answer could be summarized as: ‘To do our personal work, and then to radiate that outwards in service to all of life’. The key point being that personal work – in contrast to how it is often presented in our culture and in therapeutic circles – is not about the pursuit of personal happiness (although some of that may occur along the way). It is firstly a path into ways of relating that do not perpetuate and pass on earlier trauma, and secondly a path into service. And this is not so much a philosophy or creed or moral requirement, as what seems naturally and inherently to happen, as we move deeper into inhabiting ourselves…..
Palace Gate Counselling Service, Exeter
Counselling Exeter since 1994
Palace Gate Counselling Service Blog 