For as long as I can remember I have constructed metaphors to help me interpret my world. The simplest and most profound metaphor to me is that every individual has a unique role to play in life in the same way as every cell in the body has a purpose and that optimum health requires that all organs are healthy and balanced. Healthy cells make healthy bodies. Healthy individuals make healthy societies.
Many people think that Positive Psychology is ill conceived, that those who focus on the positive aspects of life are unrealistic, unable or unwilling to live in the real world with its sham, misery and pain. I disagree. For me, being positively disposed toward the world places me in the driving seat of my life. It imbues me with hope, it affords me a vision of harmony and it stirs me to contribute.
There is learning to be had in every experience. Life events provide the palette from which our perspectives are coloured. They also provide the motivations and energies that we deploy in filling the canvas of our lives. Do we use our colours purposefully or do we simply let them run together? Thinking of our lives as pixels on the screen of an ongoing movie of creation we may feel overwhelmed at the insignificance of our role yet the movie only has meaning when viewed holistically. Historians pick over events of ages past and seek to understand the motivations and influences at work. It is said that those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat its mistakes. We see that in our personal lives as well as those of society. To me the linkage is clear. Everything we choose to be influences the whole of creation.
Action Centred Health is about healthy living. I want to develop a metaphor for health from the cellular level upwards linking the smallest to the largest and taking responsibility for my part. My observation is that when we seek to live an optimally healthy life we stimulate health in everything around us and start to live in more sustainable ways. When enough of us think in this way then the world can be transformed.
But that is not to suggest we should join in ‘lockstep thinking’. We need diversity to stimulate creativity, learning and the collaboration that will awaken us to greater possibilities. Not only can we think bigger thoughts, we can take responsibility for making a difference in the here and now. Let our uniting theme be service to the greater good of mankind, to God as we know her or how he has been revealed to us. On such a large canvas we have scope for infinite variety of shade and hue. Our task is to bring our uniqueness to this work by deploying our gifts and talents to the best of our ability. Inevitably this will sound naive to many and plain bonkers to many more. Do I care? Yes, passionately. Life is not a rehearsal, so if you’re going to bother thinking at all, think Big!
What metaphor best helps you through life?
Why are you here? What is your purpose?
What would you most like to learn in life?
Who helps you to be your best?
© Paul Curran, Action Centred Health
