Problems according to Joe Vitale are memories replaying. Memories are programs that aren’t just yours. They are shared. The way to release the memory is to send love to the divinity. Divinity hears and responds but in the way best for all, at the time right for all.

This is disturbing to me. I am such an introvert struggling with social concerns and responsibilities. I don’t seem to have the energy not the taste for minding the business of others except of course the business of our daughter and my husband.

As a compromise, I have been subscribing to the Hawaiian healing strategy of Ho’oponopono which is comfortably distant for me. I feel safe with the constant repetitions of: “I’m sorry. I love you. I thank you.” Yet I feel I’m splitting myself.

For years I have refused to say the rosary because I didn’t relish repeating the same prayers. Yet here I am repeating the Ho’oponopono requests.
According to Vitale, a program is like a belief. When we notice it in others that’s a sure sign the program is also in our system. So, you have to neutralize the program with Ho’oponopono requests to go back to the zero state where divinity inspires.

Using the law of pragmatism, I rely on Joe Vitale’s scheme because it has worked for me countless times from locating missing things, to helping me with my anxieties over my husband and our daughter

     I have been analyzing literary pieces for so many years, dedicated to the cause and effect paradigm. My logical mind has been constantly questioning: why? Expectations were held sacred, more sacrosanct than the flow. Surprises were not honored. Science rather than Faith ruled my life.

Not anymore! At 70 years, I often feel challenged by everything contrary to what I planned. It is as though the Law of perversity rules my life now. But I have awakened. I don’t allow disappointments to define me.

There are countless inspirational and colorful posts in my newsfeeds on Facebook any time of the day or night. They soften the blow when I am dealt with irritants like text messages from those who offer loans. Recently, I had to turn off my celphone for a while to stop a certain Cherry from sending me the same message all of six times!

I wonder if my subconscious attracted this to my life. The day before I searched for pictures of cherries on Facebook. I expected to get pictures I saw in the past from “Radiant Clicks”, “Nostalgia”, etc. Amusing! The search resulted in wedding pictures of one named Cherry.

Google apparently is more intelligent. My subconscious must be attracted to Facebook, sending me an irritant via a certain Cherry.
What I resist, persists.

“What happens in your life is not your fault, but it is your responsibility,” so said Joe Vitale in his book “Zero Limits”. Lately I have had problems with a lobby guard on OJT at our building. I have also been bothered with food and water being delivered by mistake to our unit.

I can’t blame anyone or anything for my current reality. Rational thinking can’t do much. It is frustrating to analyze. The intellect will try to establish cause and effect. However, the intellect working alone can’t solve problems because it only manages.

According to Vitale, “All you can do is take responsibility for it which means accept it, own it and love it.”
“Acknowledge that something without you knowing what it is – has gotten into your body/mind system. You have no idea how it got there. You don’t need to know.”

The answer according to M. Tamura is to trust the divine to take care of you. When you let go of your ego and the ego’s desires you allow something better to guide you: the Divine.

According to Rabbi Brickner many of our disappointments over prayers can be traced to our anthropomorphizing God. God is. We do. I understand this to mean that God can’t be expected to bring say, justice into the world. It is man’s responsibility to bring about justice. God inspires.

That being the case, the pragmatic thing to do is use the Ho’oponopono healing strategy. By this I cleanse myself of all programs of fear and frustrations. But how long will this take? Meantime am I meant to endure all the objects of my fears and limitations?

According to the Ho’oponopono strategy once I am cleansed of my fears and limitations then I will be able to hear God’s inspiration and act accordingly. Then I can enjoy heaven on earth.
What a burden of responsibility I will have to carry once I stop ascribing to God human characteristics that will allow me to blame Him for my own human failures.

This essay was inspired by an incident report on a mother-daughter sensitive exchange I read on Facebook last July 30. The report was written by a former college student of mine in her early 30s.

The report brought back poignant memories revolving around my own sensitive exchange with our own daughter who was then a graduating student in high school.

I had been diagnosed with severe clinical depression after weeks of visits to the emergency room and hospital confinement due to hypertension. Our daughter was devastated. Her supermom had feet of clay after all.

Generously, Cynthia Patag, sent a close friend, an ex-nun to help our daughter process what was going on in our lives. She had to grow up. She had to accept my limitations.

My former college student who wrote on Facebook must have raised her daughter in a progressive manner. For how could the daughter have retorted if the atmosphere at home was oppressive.

Unlike my former student, I was already in my 50s. I didn’t even bother to pick myself up; I was too sick. I didn’t have the energy to defend our daughter from critics who didn’t understand our way of parenting. Our daughter was reared in an open-communication way. What others considered as sassy comebacks were deemed normal expressions of ideas. As long she didn’t harm anybody nor herself!

I didn’t feel the need to defend my turf. Even as a depressed mom, I felt I didn’t have to prove myself to our daughter.

Our daughter has grown up. She is now London-based as an HR Director of a multinational company. I pray that the daughters and sons our daughter and of all my former students will cross over into adulthood in a normal manner and whenver and wherever possible in joy!