Moving Towards Wholeness and Oneness

Napoleon Hill spent numerous years of his career researching the concept of success. He was motivated to discover the genesis of success, decode its basic nature, and record its achievements.  One can discover his several books in any library and would do well to spend several thoughtful hours digesting their content. 

The title of his book, “Think and Grow Rich,” prompts one to assume that he considers that money has a great deal to do with success. On the contrary, Mr. Hill discovered through his research, that success involves the total human being and all the resources humans bring to the life situation.  His classic statement, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve,” brings into perspective the totality of human nature. It brings into play intelligence, imagination, faith, belief, all put into physical action.  It presupposes that the human spirit is infinitely more than flesh and bones.  Imagination and hope are, after all, things of the spirit that burst through the door of depression and open up possibility and probability.  Therefore, we must conclude that man possesses spirit, is a being, and occupies space with his physical dimension and that success is largely the result of harnessing all of these powers and moving them toward oneness of purpose.  Maintaining a beneficial interaction between the spirit/ mind/body prepares us for success.

UNITY: Oneness of SPIRIT

Our spirit is recognizable and discernible by those about us.  We recognize people as loving or hostile, gracious or greedy, rigid or negotiable. Our spirit easily reflects our values and beliefs.  We clearly recognize the noble amongst us.  Certainly in today’s world, the spirit of terrorism is evident and recognizable though hidden behind a thick veil of deceit. Furthermore, travelers on the road of life are constantly struggling to keep their spirit in balance and set forth their best foot as loving, caring and concerned citizens choosing to err on the noble side of life as opposed to the base side of the human ledger.

The world, without question, has had enough Stalins, Hitlers, and Bin Ladins.  It needs authentic humans like Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and possibly even Winston Churchill, or “give ‘um hell” Harry Truman in this age of disorder.  They understood the nobler issues of life and acted from a sense of inner dignity and moral worth. Indicating the tough but spiritual nature of leadership.  The spirit of anything makes a vast difference and citizens are not fooled by the cataclysmic events transpiring in big business brought about by a passing age of rampant narcissism.

SANITY: Soundness of BEING

No one has to inform you that life is complex, not simple. You are much more than intelligence. You are emotion, will, memory, and conscience, all in one, these compose our REASON or “ BEING”...Our REASON is ground zero in the conflict between forces that have to be reckoned with which vie for our soul . It is the citadel of REASON which dictates our attempts to come to terms with life itself and determines how our VALUES will be exercised in the world around us. The quality of DECISIONS that we make determins the image of our “BEING”.  Thus, we are continually striving to achieve BALANCE between our reason, our will, and our emotions, in meeting our legitimate needs as well as those in community about us. We are called upon to keep an INSIGHTFUL watch over all of these complexities to insure our well “BEING” and the well “BEING” of those with whom we have concourse.

VITALITY: Fitness of BODY

The BODY is the vehicle for putting into active expression the dictates of the mind (reason) which reflects our sense of meaning and determines the spirit with which we encounter life. How we either attend to or abuse this physical entity will make an impact on our “being” and our way of life.  There is a close affinity between the body and the mind and how they affect one another.  As the saying goes, ‘Healthy mind, healthy body,’ is an aphorism in which the converse is also true in an interchangeable manner. Our nutrition, hydration and recreation are all tied together in an intricate blend that will be manifested in either our overall growth in strength or being stunted by weakness.  The lifestyle that we fashion will lead to our physical well being or brokenness in both the short and the long term.

SPIRITUALITY: The Essence of SPIRIT

“Spirituality is like the mortar in the fireplace, just as the mortar makes a chimney a chimney, allowing it to stand up straight and tall, beautiful in its wholeness, ‘the spiritual’ is what makes us wholly human. It holds our experiences together, shapes them into a whole, gives them meaning, allows them--and us--to be whole. Without the spiritual, however physically brave or healthy or strong we may be, however mentally smart or clever or brilliant we may be, however emotionally integrated or mature we may be, we are somehow not ‘all there.’” The Spirituality Of Imperfection by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham, pg.146.

It is the goal of the Foundation of Family Dynamics to move families and children in the direction of oneness and wholeness. Meeting a goal of wholeness through a healthy integration of the multiple dimensions of human nature, the intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical results in individuals who function in ways that seemed to be harmonious, upbeat, positive, and successful.  Life is complex and we are called upon to identify the diversity of our nature and yet own its oneness.