stuck in the emotional realm

Guest contibutor Jen Coleman offers some glimpses into dealing with family dynamics:

Sometimes when we have loved ones in our lives who have a serious problem, it causes us – almost forces us – to look within ourselves to see the reflection of that problem. Since we are all mirrors of ourselves, the only way we can effectively help the person in need is by first dealing with it in our own lives. In my opinion, it’s not the problem that defines us, but how we deal with it and how we work it out. That’s when our true colors really come to light.

Through Great River Institute and the teachings of Master Scott Walter and Sensei Mark Walter, I’ve learned that when dealing with issues, there are four levels we go through: Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – physical being the lowest and spiritual the highest. These teachers state that in order to achieve higher understanding of our condition, and when we are faced with difficult situations, we must reach for and balance ourselves in a level above our comfort zone, pushing ourselves beyond where our normal tendencies lie.

It’s pretty easy to determine what level you are most comfortable in. I, for example, seem to reside almost full time in the emotional realm. As a matter of fact, most of my family happens to be right there with me. When faced with a situation where all family members must come together to deal with a problem, it makes reaching for higher learning that much more difficult because we are all operating on the same level. We then start to internalize issues within the group.

What gets even more interesting is when one person in the group tries to reach for the higher level and the others don’t. All of a sudden, you are no longer recognizable to the others in your group. It’s as if we have roles to play in each other’s lives. When we deviate from that role, it can knock the others off balance, causing even more discontent within the group. If we let that notion really get to us, we hinder ourselves from the lesson and growth we would have achieved. After all, we are here to become greater visions of ourselves, right?