When backpacking water is precious. After we got up in the morning and packed our sacks we had to extinguish the campfire. We would go to the fire remains, one at a time, and take a leak on the ashes. After the last hiker did it we would all return and throw dirt on the fire to insure it’s safety!
Despite the way the fire would be extinguished, a campfire is a sacred thing when you camp out.
When I would do it with my nephews we would tell ghost stories and keep close to the fire to stay warm. Even though we extinguished the flames by individually go back and taking a leak on it, this was needed to conserve water.
The Lesson Of The Camp Fire
But there is a lesson to be learned here!
The camp fire inspired our nights and kept us warm. The camp fire was the foundation of our “Master Mind”. Try camping out around a fire and you become closer to those whom you have had the experience!
Yet how many of us take a leak on the campfire of our goals? I know I have caught myself doing this.
This lesson dawned on me today! I have found myself sulking and engaging in self pity. No there is nothing wrong with positive self comforting! But going into an endless loop is not going to help me.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I sulk and feel depressed?
- Is my depression maintaining itself by acting as a “VIRUS OF THE SOUL” by turning my life force against me?
- In my life does it do this by making me feel power only when I take a leak on the camp fire of my goals and dreams (or attack someone else’s dreams)?
- Have I accepted the false belief of powerlessness and only gain my sense of power when I piss on the camp fire of my goals and dreams?
- Did I have a parent or significant person in my life who cut my dreams down and am I unconsciously emulating them now by this act of extinguishing the camp fire of my goals and dreams?
This is not meant to criticize ourselves or our parents! This is a “meme” that is trying to perpetuate itself like a VIRUS OF THE SOUL! A virus cannot replicate itself so it uses a host. In this case it is our mind or soul by robbing of us of our passion and motivation.
But we could not be prey to this “virus of the soul” unless we are engaged in severe self criticism! Like self criticism ever really did any good. In Rational Emotive Therapy, Dr. Ellis distinguishes between self criticism as opposed to behavior evaluation. We are better off if we judge our behavior as poor or not goal serving rather than attacking ourselves!
I agree with Dr. Albert Ellis. But I would also add we need to love ourselves! We need to practice this act of SELF ASSERTION, of loving ourselves even if our behavior is bad!
MEDITATION:
Just for today I will not piss on the camp fire of my goals and dreams. I am open to the sacredness of Life and my connection to it and other people!
—————Note For Further Reading————-
A “virus of the soul” is similar to what Dr. Jeffrey Young calls “schema maintenance” or “trans-generational script migration” in Transactional Analysis.
Related articles
- Quentin Letts: A few nights under canvas, a lifetime of happy memories (independent.co.uk)
