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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!teddy!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!hao!woods
From: woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Signals (digression)
Message-ID: <1326@hao.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 7-Jan-85 20:48:00 EST
Article-I.D.: hao.1326
Posted: Mon Jan  7 20:48:00 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Jan-85 04:57:44 EST
References: <1555@pucc-h>, <1882@sun.uucp> <1591@pucc-h> <241@stat-l>, <1229@bbncca.ARPA> <1620@pucc-h>
Organization: High Altitude Obs./NCAR, Boulder CO
Lines: 41

> I have a very hard time accepting myself given that I do not by a long shot
> measure up to Christ and His commandment, "Love one another as I have loved
> you" 

   Again, as in my previous article, I don't think Christ expected perfection
from inherently imperfect human beings. That's why he gave his life, isn't it?
Then you shouldn't expect perfection from yourself either. This means 
*accepting*, not resisting, the fact that you are imperfect and cannot hope
to live up to 100% of the Christian ideals 100% of the time, no matter how
strongly you believe in it.

> therapist has said more than once that self-acceptance is a decision one has
> to make for oneself.  Hmm....  Wish me luck, I've got 29.5 years of habits
> and security built around self-rejection; self-acceptance means dynamiting
> my whole life.

   Go for it, Jeff. Push the plunger. I've just dynamited my whole life of
believing that no one cares and that it doesn't matter what I do in this world.
Those who have read my negative articles for several years wouldn't believe
this group I'm involved with now. We are totally committed to service to 
others and to making a difference in this world. And we can do it, too.
We turned Larimer square, the 16th street mall and the Tabor Center (in Denver)
upside down last Saturday night. We created so much excitement that people 
followed us around all night to see what we would do next. And our service 
project to feed and clothe poor kids...
   But I'm getting off track. The point of bringing that up is that if you
see that your present life is not working for you (and I get that from you
very strongly), you can indeed "dynamite it". I did. It wasn't easy. It 
takes a lot of commitment, and I had the support of a lot of wonderful
people. But there's more than one way to skin a cat; you don't have to go
through the experience that I did. If you want to change badly enough, you
will change. Whatever it takes.

Love,
--Greg
-- 
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!stcvax | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!stcvax}
       		        !hao!woods
   
     "...once in a while you can get shown the light
         in the strangest of places if you look at it right..."