IN THIS ISSUE: FEEDING YOUR HEART
WISDOM: "The best, most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt in the heart." Helen Keller
COACH'S CHALLENGE: Check out where your attention is when someone is talking to you.
SOUL TRAVEL: MEDICAL MISSION TO USPANTAN, GUATAMALA - PART II
FEEDING YOUR HEART
A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt.
He said, "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One is the vengeful, angry, violent
one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one."
The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?"
The grandfather answered: "The one I feed."
We all have a shadow side. The shadow side of my divorcing clients is often front and center. Because I am not emotionally involved, I have the opportunity to be a source of tranquility and compassion for these people. It is an honor! It is also much easier than being the source of tranquility and compassion when I am personally involved. It takes constant work to stay centered at all times. I fail more often than I would like. But then, being human isn't easy.
An analytical mind can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the situation. There is no question that it often gets in the way of the heart. My mind's first response is to challenge, analyze, dissect or problem solve. My goal is to encourage my heart to override my mind as the first response, and only then engage my mind. This way my mind may work in concert with my heart rather than beat it to the punch.
One path for getting in touch with your heart is the practice of Empathy as taught by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg in his book "Nonviolent Communication - The Language of Compassion". Empathy means connecting to what is happening in the other person and being fully present with what they are experiencing. It is not being busy with what you are thinking, how you are reacting, making judgments - all which are examples of your mind overshadowing your heart. In April, I will be attending a ten-day workshop with Dr. Rosenberg in an attempt to offer my loving and compassionate wolf a feast. I hope for a real jump-start.
In the meantime, I try to feed my heart daily. It is by far the greater challenge.
Did you know that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was sent up in the space capsule? It is thought to exemplify the finest music this civilization has to offer.
 
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SOUL TRAVEL: MEDICAL MISSION TO USPANTAN, GUATAMALA - PART II
It is late evening. The clinic is closed for the day. Many of us are standing by where doctors are working frantically to save the life of a ten month old baby who has bronchitis in both lungs. The rest of the family waits outside the room anxiously. The child is being sustained on a hand pump for breathing … a primitive tool by our standards but it is all that is available. The situation is getting worse. HELPS calls for a helicopter. A doctor, the father and the child are flown at HELPS expense to a hospital in Guatemala City. Later, we learn the child will survive.
We are allowed to observe surgeries. Always curious, I witness the removal of an 18 pound tumor from a woman's stomach. She has carried the tumor for 24 years. I have a photo of it but thought better of including it. (Don't want to freak you out.) There are fewer burn victims than usual this year, so the "old timers" tell me. It is normal for the people to cook on open fires in the middle of their huts. For the children especially, it is very dangerous. (Not to mention the smoke they constantly breathe.) A seven-month old baby has severe burns on both hands. Nothing can be done as the doctor explains it would probably be a twelve stage process and cannot be started in this venue.*
 A ten year old girl who is crippled with two club feet arrives. She moves by dragging her feet behind her in a kind of crawl. After treating an abscess on her foot, the HELPS team springs into action and fashions a walker for her. My friend, Di, who is a physical therapist, takes the measurements and draws the walker; the McGuyvers (fix it guys) scour the village for materials which include some PVC pipe. They cut, fit and weld, producing a sturdy walker as though by magic. The child and her family join the team for dinner and the child is presented with the walker. (See photo above.) The team takes up a collection so she can have leather shoes made. The child and her family are beaming; most of us are a little wet behind the eyes.
The week is over. We are up at 4:00 a.m. and in the buses at 6:00 a.m. for the long ride to Antigua for some well-deserved R & R at a lovely resort. Antigua is a charming old city surrounded by volcanoes. One sends up a column of smoke every twenty minutes. Antigua was devastated by an eruption sometime in the 60's and there are several ruins scattered throughout the city. There is color everywhere, not only due to the many flowers but the rich, vibrant use of color on buildings, just as you find in Mexico, along with the inevitable mix of those in disrepair and those that are freshly painted. The large cathedral in town is stunning with its lemon yellow exterior and white intricately-carved relief. (See photo). The food is similar to Mexican cuisine and we treat ourselves to some marvelous meals. We power shop and do lots of walking, visit coffee and macadamia nut plantations, and a candle maker who allows Di to dip her own candles. Rested, and grateful for a unique and rewarding experience, we are ready to return home.
*A $100 contribution to the HELPS Stove Project buys a stove for a family so they will no longer have to build dangerous cooking fires inside their home. www.helpsintl.org
BOOK: "I, Rigoberta Menchu, An Indian Woman in Guatemala" - Rigoberta Menchu is an Indian woman who grew up in Uspantan. She was the winner of 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. Her story of her people, their fight for justice and the horrors they endured, is born out of oppression and wretchedness. Somehow she found the strength to lead, organize and become a force for change. Her struggle is not over. The courage and passion of this extraordinary peasant woman is humbling and inspirational.
NEXT MONTH: A HURRICANE IN ANTARCTICA
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: It is the mind that deceives us, not the heart!
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WINGS Vol. II, No. 3, March, 2003
