I received an email about this topic about a week or so ago, from the lady that I admire and respect :) - Swati Lee (we met at the counseling class last year, and have interesting discussions sometimes, and she’s one of the person who believes in me for the things I want to do).

Having the heart to help others in trouble – any kind of problems – we learn from the classes we attend and the books we read, that in a way the past must have an influence to the present time and the future time. But how should we relate the past to the present time and how should we position it to the present time? Should we always dig out someone’s past before we can help their present problems and help them to move to the future? Or is it still possible that when we deal with the present problem… we deal it that way, without have to dig out the past experience?

Regardless of the psychology theories provided by many great people – for example like Freud, it’s a bit difficult for me to give an opinion from their point of view, simply that I don’t have enough information about the approaches suggested by them, since my background is not psychology – I don’t have enough knowledge to explain whose point of view is more proper than the other. However I assume myself as the practitioner in life (everyone is a practitioner in fact)… it means as a human live in this world… I learn about people and problems and how to help others from experiences we face every day. Using the knowledge that I learn from live itself – experiences :).

The past really influence the present and the future. We are as who we are now is because of what we have experienced in the past. The past itself doesn’t stand alone to influence our present and future, there are a few other things, such as our beliefs, knowledge, mind set, etc. – which off course also influenced by our past in a way. We should consider the past as a stepping stone, not as reason to blame on what happen in our present time.

Therefore in any counseling session, or for the common people like me – I prefer to consider it as a sharing moments – to ‘listen’ about the matter of the current problem is very important, listening is not only hearing the words they say, but at the same time try to understand the feeling they have. Many times it helps me to understand the person very well, somehow it leads me to understand they way the person think or feel, and from that point then using the instinct (yes… female use this built in function within us :p) to decide whether I should ask about the past, or should I focus on the problem. And our experiences in live also helps us when we have sharing moments with other people. So, practically in any sharing moments I don’t use any specific method that I have read or learnt. It’s more to the willingness of my heart to listen to my friend. And sometimes I found out, that some people don’t really need any solution from us, they just need a friend to talk, someone who would lend the ears to hear what they feel and think.

About the traumatic experience in the past, I believe it has to be treated well, but I do really believe that certain therapy approach is not an assurance that someone can let go the past easily. I quote this from the book by Larry Crabb – Understanding People, chapter 4 – “In the minds of many, there is a difference between counseling and psychotherapy. Counseling, some would say, deals exclusively with here-and-now concerns, attempting to help people cope with their lives more effectively by offering warm support and wise advice. Interpersonal skills like empathy, genuineness, and the ability to clarify, coupled with sensitivity and common sense, are the necessary tools. Psychotherapy is very different, many say. It probes beneath present concerns (such as indecision regarding vocational choice) to expose an unconscious network of defenses, anxiety, and unacceptable or painful feelings which together generate the visible problem. Therapy deals with deeper issues than counseling because it looks beneath current complaints to the internal dynamics that really constitute the disorder needing correction. It is said that the therapy deals with internal dynamics, and counseling does not. And Freud is rightly credited with introducing the whole idea of psychodynamics to the modern mind. The term refers to the psychological forces within the personality (usually unconscious) that have the power to cause behavioral and emotional disturbance… “

In the case of the past that brings the traumatic experience, I believe the therapy might have to be done depends on the level of the trauma, but there’s one thing that I have been thinking about for the last few months… there’s something more than just therapy and counseling session or sharing between friends. That’s why I read this book :), there’s a missing point from all the things we do to help others. And lately I find it… that it’s actually the ability to relate. To relate doesn’t mean just we know and try to pay attention, but genuinely relate from one soul to another soul (I learn this from other Larry’s book – Soultalk). And to relate we need to pay effort not to analyze others by our mind understanding (which sometimes lead us to judgement), but more to the act of love. The love that Jesus taught us :), the love that He gives to us. So that I believe that therapy and counseling still incomplete to help others, but the additional essence of the right love from the right heart will help the person that we help to let go the past and change the mindset for the future sake. Agape. That’s the type of love that we need to have to help others. And I do believe this type of love can be learnt and read through the bible. And we have to experience this type of love first before we can share it with the people around us. Some people arguing whether bible can be considered as the source for biblical counseling or not, and here I just want to say that I believe bible is one of the source we need to read and learn in helping others :), and it’s not limited to the counseling session only.

So, yes the past really influence the present and the future time. However it’s unnecessary to always dig out the past of everyone in each of the session. It depends on the occasion. Normally if I find certain pattern in belief or way of thinking, then I will try to ask a little bit about the past – combine it with the discernment from God to lead what to say or ask :). Therapy, counseling, the proper love with the right heart and the discernment from God - I believe would be a great combination to help many people.

And the future… the past is not really influencing the future compare to the present time, the past has the link to the future because of the present time. And in this present time, we can see and learn what was wrong in the past, and I believe that the present time has more influence for the future. The way we decide how we want to do our present time is designing our future. I can talk nonstop about this, but I better stop first now, I will try to think more… maybe there are a lot of missing point also in my belief about this :).

Posted: January 31st, 2010 under Thoughts.
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Recently I keep on thinking about this topic. When I claim that I know something or have knowledge about something, it doesn’t mean that I understand it in the proper way. But most of the times – because of the habit :p – when I think I have the knowledge of something, then I assume that I know everything about it, and there’s where the pride sneak in unconsciously and I start to have personal opinion (judgment?) about certain thing/situation/condition.

But then I think… for example, I know there’s an animal called elephant – my knowledge about the elephant is that it is a big creature with 4 legs, 1 big trunk as a nose and slim tiny tail compared to the size of the body. à but I don’t understand why elephant shaped that way, and what is the other use of the long trunk beside for breathing and taking food, and why the tail is so slim compared to the size of the body?

Another example… I have the knowledge about salmon from the materials I read – salmon swims in a group (school of fish – that’s what they said) – and they swim against the tide. BUT I don’t understand why they swim against the tide? Does this type of fish like challenges? Or do they simply just following their behavior that has been taught by the elder salmon without knowing that it is easier to swim following the tide? Or do they crazy? – I simply don’t understand this.

I might have the knowledge – but it doesn’t mean I have enough understanding why certain thing happens, or certain people think certain way or even do certain things that are out of the value believed by most people in the society.

I’m working in the IT field, and sometimes I’m struck by people’s questions about the product I’m selling. I know how to answer explicitly about certain functionality, but then I realize there are a lot of times when I don’t understand why the functions created or developed in certain ways. I could have the knowledge I know to tell people about what it is all about, but I also face my own struggles sometimes to understand the reason behind why certain function designed in a certain way, and not in another way around.

The knowledge cannot be used as a guarantee that I understand certain things/situation. But the knowledge is only the beginning for me to learn to understand about certain things/situation.

This morning I woke up with a thought. This is applied in every area of my life. I live surrounded by other people. I might have knowledge about something – or certain situation – or about someone else – but I might not be able to understand fully why someone do something…

I have the knowledge that eating junk food is not good – because of many reasons shared by many people – but I don’t understand why many people still eating junk food even though they know that it’s not good for their health, and I find that me myself eating junk food also sometimes. The knowledge and the things we do sometimes on the opposite side :).

I end up with a conclusion that I shouldn’t have the habit to judge other people of what they are doing, because I might not understand the reason of so many things, why they do what they do. Moreover it is very possible that the knowledge that I know is not the most updated knowledge somehow ;).

And at one point, I even realize … sometimes I don’t understand myself about why I’m doing a certain things that is opposite of the knowledge that I know and believe :p.

This morning my reading is about Matthew – the tax collector who then become a disciple. When I read the story… I feel that Jesus is a very eccentric person… He passed near Matthew the tax collector, and out of the blue He offered him to be a disciple. My human mind and understanding cannot digest it clearly. From all the people around there by that time… why it should be the tax collector? And among the tax collector…why it was Matthew? There must be something that my human mind cannot understand for sure.

And I don’t understand also why Matthew accepted the offer right away, why he then agreed to become a disciple and left the job as the tax collector?

It shows that I simply don’t have enough understanding about life and everything about it… I might learn to gain the knowledge, but knowledge cannot be an assurance that I would have enough understanding for life.

Everyone has their own battle, everyone decide their own life story… sometimes we might want to help those we love so much to be out of the difficulties in their life, but sometimes there’s a boundary that everyone’s life is their own responsibility… what we can do for those we love… is to be there at anytime they need us when life seems get tough for them, and accept them as who they are… because we’re all the same… we’re human and we make mistake from day to day :).

Posted: January 20th, 2010 under Thoughts.
Comments: 1

“Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.” - St.  Augustine

What is faith?

I wonder whether faith is another type of illusion. Is it or isn’t it?

I learn from the resources I read that faith is actually the attitude of believing something is real – true – trusted – even though it’s not happening yet, or we cannot see yet that it’s going to happen.

And I learn from my daily life, that living in faith is sometimes a bit ambiguous – there’s a temptation in the mind whether it’s a real faith, or am I trying to deny the truth and live in an illusion? :)

For sometimes I have decided that I want to learn to live by faith… the faith that the God I trust will never leave me alone… no matter how ridiculous I’ve been. However several times in a day – everyday, I have to make a decision whether I should believe in faith or I should choose to believe with what I can see in reality. I learn that to live by faith is challenging.

The common thing that I learn to believe is about life partner… that God already has someone who will match me… even though I cannot see him yet… I don’t know who he is, and I might have not meet him yet, but I believe he’s there – somewhere around the corner, as what one of my friend has ever told me (to be honest I wonder in which corner is he now? :p). Some people will say that I live in an illusion with this faith :p, but I’m glad that certain friends that I’m close with believe it like a faith. It’s funny that this faith strengthens me not to accept less than what I have believed I will get. And the faith from my friends for me… in a way strengthens my own faith. I start to see the faith is like a chain reaction in chemistry :p.

The more people share the same faith in one thing, the stronger the belief that it is true and happening. I consider faith is a like substance inside the human soul that can grow. Like a human cell, it can grow stronger, and on the other side it can become weak too. If we nourish the faith it will get stronger, but if we neglect the faith it will become weaker and sooner or later we cannot find it in us anymore.

To believe in something that we cannot see… is a real challenge for a human. We tend to believe what we can see or predict, and we have difficulties to trust what we cannot see with our human eyes or what we cannot understand by our human brain.

Somehow I believe that faith is the weapon to fight the illusion of impossibility. The belief of the impossibility is caused by the understanding that things is limited –it is limited by the lack of understanding, limited by the value believed (obviously we have to choose what kind of value we want to believe) and limited by the ability of human mindset to think.

I have faith that I will write more about faith from now on ;).

Posted: January 16th, 2010 under Thoughts.
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After one whole year I stop publishing my writing in this blog, I’m ready to write again now. The end of 2008 closed by a dream journey – the first trip to Europe with the first time to see and touch the real snow ;). The end of 2009 was closed by doing a reading marathon of several books – just to fulfill my curiosity ;).

The journey of 2009 itself full of a mind struggles to wake up from the illusion that insists to be trusted as a reality. Fighting against the illusion take all of the energy since it hassles the sanity of the mind.

So now I’m back with observing the illusions around me :). I still believe that most people live their lives inside collections of several illusions that is initiated by someone or something at the beginning, and trusted as the normal way of living. The dreams dreamt, the values adopted, the behaviors, the beliefs system, and so on… one way of another influenced by certain types of illusion.

Fighting the illusion is very tiring and uncomfortable. Dare to be different from the beliefs of your surroundings take a lot of efforts and sacrifice in life – I imagine it like the school of salmon which swim against the tide. Sometimes as human, we have to swim against the tide alone – which is more tiring compared if we can swim against the tide together with others, it will take less effort than doing it alone.

What are the real values that we have to adopt in life? And what are the illusions that have been accepted as values that most people have adopt in life?

The questions cause a lot of arguments – and even fights among groups of people ?. And of course that’s the root cause of the war and fights all over the world.

Life is simple isn’t it?

Only the inability to appreciate the differences that create the complicated life – where people don’t enjoy their life journey anymore – and live is just like a war against the different illusions.

Posted: January 15th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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