Viktor Frankl: Self-Actualization is not the goal – YouTube

There is another escape pattern, or game, which is very much like the ivory tower of intellectualism…it is the isolation game. Loners shut themself off from others, live alone, and tried to convince themselves that they like it this way. By entering this kind of solitary confinement, they succeed in evading all the most difficult challenges of human life and society. Loners assume the attitude of smugness; they smirk at organizations, laugh at the poor “joiners”, whom they look upon with a pretended attitude of superiority and condescension. They keep telling themselves that they are above that sort of nonsense.

Neurotics are torn between their inner need to push toward and pull away from people. Loners are neurotics who opt in favor of the pulling away for people. They retreat, and since they cannot relate easily to others, they play their game to avoid failures in human relationships. The ultimate effects are conditioned by what is inside of loners, the reasons for their withdrawal tendencies. If it is hostility that is predominant, it could eventually erupt into violence. If it is anxiety, it could result in compulsive-obsessive neurotic habits (for example, repeatedly washing hands). If it is paranoia, it will deepen the Gulf between themselves and the rest of the human race. The escapist pattern always ends in some kind of lonely tragedy. –Father John Powell ‘Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am?”

God, I offer myself to Thee –
To build with me
and to do with me as Thou wilt.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do Thy will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them may bear witness
to those I would help of Thy Power,
Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
May I do Thy will always!

“Almost always, if I measure my decision carefully by the yardstick of the ABSOLUTES and it checks up pretty well with those four, then my answer can’t be very far out of the way,”

Four Absolutes

HONESTY
UNSELFISHNESS
PURITY
LOVE

Discernment for daily life

Honesty: Is it true or false?

Honesty is the noblest pleasure we can have. To find a great new truth and discard an old prejudice is a profound accomplishment. . . It is easier to be honest with others than with ourselves.

“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.” Matthew 5:37

Lord, help me to be a person of honesty and integrity.
For the times that I have twisted the truth,
deceived in subtle ways,
and outright lied,
I am sorry.
Help me to always turn from the ways of error.
Jesus, I trust in You.

Unselfishness: How will it affect others?

Selflessness. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4. Big Book wisdom: Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Some times they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt. So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so.

Father,
we honor the heart of your Son,
broken by our cruelty,
yet symbol of love’s triumph,
pledge of all that we are called to be.
Teach us to see Christ in the lives we touch
and to offer him living worship
by love-filled service to our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Purity: Is it right, or is it wrong?

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. -Matthew 5:8 “It’s in the realm of the heart and spirit that we face difficulty. We know which is right, but do we have the dedicated will to do it? . . . In other words, knowledge means little until it goes into action . . . Until we translate our knowledge into the action of our own lives, the value of it is non-existent.” BE HOLY, BECAUSE I (God) AM HOLY (Leviticus and 1 Peter). I am weary from the grandiose, the attempting of great things. In small, things, in moments, please Lord grant contentment within purity. Enough is enough. I am grateful, adoring Your Divine Mercy. Psalm 131: …my heart is not arrogant, nor do I look haughty. I do not aspire to great things, nor concern myself with things beyond my ability.

Love: Is it ugly or beautiful?

“We are experts on ugliness . . . We are not experts on beauty but we have tasted a little, and we are hungry for more. Coming from the depths of fear, physical agony, mental torture and spiritual starvation, we feel completely unloved, impregnated with self-pity, poisoned by resentment, and devoured by a prideful ego which with alcohol has brought complete blindness. We received understanding and love from strangers and we make progress as we in turn give it to new strangers. It’s as simple as that.”

Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another,
God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:7-12

A prayer for guidance embracing the Four Absolutes

“God, please show me Your Will and align my will with Your Will so that I should do Your Will always. Please bless me with the right thoughts, words and actions and guide me to make the next right step.”