Introduction

Wholeness is an ephemeral thing. For most people, it seems to be an unreachable goal, something best discussed as a philosophical concept as opposed to an achievable reality. Given the continuing effort that approach­ing wholeness entails, most people choose to settle for “average.” And the world suffers because of this choice.

You have decided to find an alternative to average, to settling, to simply getting by. Over the next 52 weeks, you will have opportunities to think deeply, to focus both inward and outward, to evaluate your choices and to broaden your horizons.

I would not, for a moment, suggest that this work will be easy. There will be moments when you will feel like giving up, putting this book aside, thinking, “This may work for other people, but not for me.” Let me assure you, this is a normal, predictable response.

When this happens, stop. Allow the feelings associated with stopping the process to wash over you. Then, write them down. Think about them. Notice what story you are telling yourself—how you are stopping yourself. Turn to page 96 and read “Making Tea.” In the pause, as the drama dials back, clarity will occur, and you will choose to continue.

Working your way through this book represents a new beginning on a life-long journey. If you are wise, you will repeat this reflective process, in some form or another, for the rest of your life. This is either a delightful challenge or not, depending upon your perspective.

As to the way this book works: Each week is a separate chapter and begins with a thought for the week. These thought pages might suggest some form of writing, observing, or data gathering. You then turn to the day page. Each day contains a “Word from Uncle Wayne,” and a “Task for the Day.” Both are intended to keep you focused, moving along and aware.

I suppose you could use the spaces provided in this book as a place for shopping lists, appointments and the like. This is not the intention of the spaces. The spaces are there for writing—to contain your reflections on the topic at hand. It is not enough simply to read. You must actively participate, by writing.

To get the most benefit from this work, you will need an additional pad of paper or a spiral notebook. Use the blank pages there to work through the questions raised in the thought for the week—always found on the left-hand page. As you distil your answer down, write the condensed version in the blank space on the left-hand page.

Let us begin, then, by simply being open to the possibility of change. Let us walk together, with our eyes, ears, and minds open, available, and present.

Rock

Rock is the firm footing upon which we build our world. We dig foundations to bedrock, if possible, so the things we build have the best chance of stay­ing upright. Rigid foundations resist movement—it is the same with foun­dational thoughts.

Little children know nothing of the world. Adults and “tribes” teach the child­ren what each tribe decides they need to know. These culturally accepted lessons of life, which each of us learn at others’ knees, become our foundational truths, and help us to es­tablish a firm footing in the world. In a sense, without such teachings we would be autistic. We would exist, but we would not be able to define ourselves or place ourselves.

The foundational truths we learn are subjective,¹ however. Even more important, we likely have forgotten that we have totally accepted, and are governed by, those foundational truths. They are that deeply embedded.

Foundational statements affect, as does nothing else, our worldview. A bald example: a divorced mother tells her daughter, age three, “Never trust a man. They’ll all leave you.” This one statement has the potential to colour all future relationships the young child has. And that’s just one statement.

Of course, you will see the problem here. We incorporated these “truths” because, when we were small, big people (who had power or authority over us) demanded that we structure our being and behaviour according to them. We incorporated them into our being, and they frame how we under­stand reality from that point on.

Unfortunately, however, some of these “truths” are—untrue. We must begin by raising such “truths” to consciousness. Then, we can evaluate them more objectively—in a sense deciding if they actually work.

Make a list of all of the foundational truths you know about yourself and the world. As a hint, think about broad categories of things. For example, think of people of different nationalities or races. What comes immediately to mind? What are the truths you know about men? Women? Business? The Church? Carry on from there.

1. Subjective – one’s personal (or a group’s) experience of a situation, chosen arbitrarily out of all of the data available. Thus, foundational truths are not “true.” They are accepted as “true” in order to support a pre-conceived belief.

Exercises – Rock