FROM BECKY: I was reflecting on this past week at The Autism Treatment Center of America and the experience I had with a wonderful Mom helping her 13 year old son by learning The Son-Rise Program. The idea that it's OK to be the way we are came up during one of our discussions. That we can want differently for ourselves but we do not need to judge where we are to want it.
One thing that I learned while in my training to be a Son-Rise Teacher is that if I don't accept and embrace my own challenges, and say to myself that "It's OK" to be where I am (e.g. unhappy, fearful, not trusting, etc), then I am not really doing The Son-Rise Program.
By allowing ourselves to feel these things and not having to change them immediately, we are able to own our discomforts, make friends with them and then change them if we want to or keep them if we want to. Neither way is right or wrong, it's just what we are doing in that moment
When using The Son-Rise Program, the belief that our special children are OK the way they are is essential. By embracing and accepting them just the way they are and not needing to change them, we can fully want the best for them while staying comfortable, present and not judging where they are right now. Ultimately inspiring them to grow without pushing them or pressuring ourselves.
Think of one thing you are doing right now (a discomfort you feel, a belief you have or a behavior you want to change in yourself) and practice saying to yourself "It's OK that I am doing that right now".
I'd love to know how it goes.
Becky,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for writing! This post was *enormously* helpful to me as a big reminder. I can slip back into thinking that choosing to be happy means it's not okay to feel "negative" emotions. This can also come out, for me, as not being accepting and loving toward those close to me who are feeling "negative" emotions. It's so much more delightful and easy to choose to be totally ok with both my own and my loved ones' emotions, whatever they are. Thank you!