BOOKS
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here is a lie most of us are conditioned to tell as a society. It is the answer “Fine, thanks” when asked how we’re doing regardless of how we’re actually doing. We live in a world where we are too often conditioned to put the smile on and say everything’s great - instinctively, reflexively, without thinking about whether what we’re saying is even remotely accurate. In this world, putting aside our emotional armour and our desire to look like Mr. or Ms. I’ve-Got-It-All-Together, in order to speak honestly about how we’re doing, can be an act of bravery to the point of audacity. It’s a revolutionary act that can help to ground us in awareness and compassion for our selves and others. Glennon Doyle Melton’s book “Carry On, Warrior” is a series of autobiographical musings about the power of being honest and humble about where we are, based on
her journey out of multiple addictions. She writes, My fear of really being seen had driven me to hide inside the bunker of addiction for decades. When I finally crawled out, I pulled on my secrets and shame like armor and carried my invulnerability like a weapon. Life, to me, had always seemed like a battle to survive. [...] Sure, I was sober and out of hiding, but by denying my past to others, protecting myself with the shield of secrets and shame, I had isolated myself. [...] It hit me that maybe the battles of life are best fought without armor and without weapons. That maybe life gets real, good and interesting when we remove all of the layers of protection we’ve built around our hearts and walk out onto the battlefield of life naked. And as Melton steps forward with the desire to be honest, vulnerable and without shame, she sees how others are also encouraged to let their
guard down and start to deal with the burdens they have been carrying behind the mask of “Fine, thanks”. Melton shares hilarious an ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????M????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????q
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