SOFT SKILLED LIVIING WORKSHOP
WRITING YOUR 7 STEP WELLNESS PLAN
“The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually”
Greg Anderson
American Author of ”The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness”
In this short time you have assembled the genesis of a wellness plan for yourself; a lifelong journey that you will walk with yourself and your loved ones. That is why the workshop is named SOFT SKILLED LIVING©. This is a new and different approach to the way you perceive and live your life, a softer, loving path that starts with your awareness that “learning to love yourself” is the beginning of your regenerated life. Every person has different needs and voids in their physical, spiritual and emotional life that traumas alter.
Each person will travel a different path to wellness. But be assured of this; all paths will cross the rejuvenating spirit of forgiveness, the value of thankfulness, the victory of hope, the emotional battles of life trauma; relaxation, visualization and prayer, the secret of time and the spirit of volunteering.
AFTER BEATING STAGE II COLON CANCER,
“The next eighteen months of my life were consumed with overwhelming heartache. In that short time, I was diagnosed with stage II Colon Cancer, had one third of my lower colon and tumor surgically removed, I was poisoned by my chemotherapy and re hospitalized ten days; closed my 2 businesses, changed jobs, moved, had six more polyps removed from my colon, had three more colonoscopies, complete corporate and personal financial loss, lost my father to Alzheimer’s disease, lost my very close friend in an industrial accident, lost my cousin and chemo partner to colon cancer, was diagnosed with three more serious illnesses and had two more none cancer surgeries.”
This series of events changed my value system, my coping mechanisms, my relationship with my Creator and my relationship with myself. After years of selfish living, I finally learned that to survive, I had to learn how to love myself before I would be able to love others.
Below are the steps I wrote and followed to begin my lifelong wellness journey. They are not another to do list to read and put on your refrigerator. They are from the battlefield and are reality statements that work and will transform your life.
MAJOR STEPS OF MY WELLNESS JOURNEY
1. I made a decision to change (set a goal)
2. I overcame mental obstacles – admitted that I could not heal without help from others. This was a major turnaround because I always declared myself as being self-sufficient.
3. I took stock in my character and put my pride aside. I took the time to be true to myself and cleared the negative filters from my mind. This is the first step in learning how to love yourself.
4. I assembled a team of health professionals that worked for me. I interviewed them and chose which ones I wanted to hire.
5. I stayed focus and was patient. This was very hard to do but I never gave up.
6. I became motivated. My motivation was to heal. I realized I owed myself a good life. I had to heal emotionally if I was ever going to share my love of life with my wife and family again. That was my most important goal. This is when I realized I had to “learn to love myself before I would be able to know how to love others.”
7. I asked for spiritual intervention. I can still hear the echo of my father’s voice encouraging me, “Son, no matter what, always do your very best in life. Work hard, be honest and the Guy upstairs will always bless and protect you.” So I always asked for help from the living God of the universe and He answered.
As we near the end of this workshop be quiet for a minute. Reflect on all you have written and committed to, establishing the positive steps of your wellness plan. Close your eyes and relax. Visualize this statement, If I had more time how would I spend it. What is your new perspective on how you will spend your valuable time, more time at work, more time absorbed in selfish behavior or more time loving those who love you and need you. Keep your values and priorities in order.
BEFORE YOU CONSTRUCT YOUR SOFT SKILLED LIVING PLAN TAKE A MOMENT AND REVIEW:
OVERVIEW, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THIS WORKSHOP.
Overview: Soft Skilled Living is an interactive workshop emphasizing the power of closure and healing from any serious life trauma. Soft Skilled Living examines the person that lives within you and helps to reconcile many key elements of your emotions. You have started your personal wellness through writing, reflection, humility and learning unselfish love.
Objective: To make a commitment to start your healing journal of your body, mind and soul by writing your personal wellness and healing plan.
Goal: To become a victorious survivor by understanding that emotional healing is within your grasp. This journey is guided by your understanding of the values and meaning of the rejuvenating spirit of forgiveness, the value of thankfulness, the victory of hope, the emotional battles of life trauma; relaxation, visualization and prayer, the secret of time and the spirit of volunteering.
To heal any emotions, you must start at the core of the issue, forgiveness and unselfish love. My mentor is a man of great wisdom and prudent thought. He said many times, “Love your neighbor as you would love yourself.” One problem exists with this statement. Very few of us know how to love ourselves so that we may love our neighbor as Christ’s greatest commandment requires.
THUS THE UNDERLYING THEME OF THIS WORKSHOP:
“Learn to love yourself so you will be able to love your neighbor.”©
Below is the path I chose to begin my emotional wellness many years ago. Use this as a guide to write the direction you will travel to place Hope into Action. There is space after each line to write your personal action steps. It’s your turn to start writing. What you write will be the outline of your wellness and healing plan. Take your time and be honest with yourself. “You owe yourself a good life,” so let’s get started.
1. “I made a decision to change.”
What decision will you make?
GOAL:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. “I overcame mental obstacles and admitted that I could not heal without help from others. This was a major turnaround for me because I always declared myself as being self-sufficient.”
What mental obstacles will you overcome and how?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. “I took stock of my life and put my pride aside. I took time to be true to myself and cleared the negative filters from my mind.” This is the first step in learning how to love yourself
4. Right now, set a date and time you will perform this very important task.
Date:______________Time:_________
Negative filters are mental filters present in our mind that negatively influence our perception of reality. Thought processes travel through these filters and become tainted adding mud to the positive soup we are enjoying.
List the top 5 negative filters you will clear from your mind. (pride, anger, selfishness, ect.)
1._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. “I assembled a team of health professionals to work for me. I interviewed them and chose which ones I wanted to hire.”
Take control of your healthcare and wellness. Interview and select the healthcare professionals that are experts in their fields that listen to you and answer your questions respectfully and understand your healthcare goals. Remember, you are hiring them and paying for their services. Expect and demand high standards of excellence. Hold all healthcare professionals ACCOUNTABLE.
List your wellness and healthcare goals
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Write your personal action steps to accomplish these goals ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I stay focused and patient. “This was very hard to do but I never gave up.” Continually review the steps you are taking to accomplish your wellness and healing goal. You have chosen the narrow path in life.
How will you use visualization to stay focused on your wellness journey and unravel your spirit of patience? Remember to give yourself plenty of room to fail and laugh.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Complete the three statements below:
I will strive to cultivate the spirit of patience in my life using these three steps.
1. I will tend the soil of my life with: (use an idea you have learned today)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. I will sow seeds of humility and thankfulness using:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. I will harvest the blossoms of patience when:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. “I became motivated. My motivation was to heal. I realized I owed myself a good life. I had to heal emotionally if I was ever going to share my love of life with my wife and family again. That was my most important goal. This is when I realized I had to “learn to love myself before I would be able to know how to love others.”
“You too, owe yourself a good life.”
List 3 things that MOTIVATE you towards a progressive state of wellness. Be thorough and detailed.
1._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. “I asked for spiritual intervention. I can still hear the echo of my father’s voice encouraging me. “Son, no matter what, always do your very best in life. Just work hard, be honest and the Guy upstairs will always bless and protect you.” So I always asked for help from the living God of the universe and He answered.”
God’s intervention in my life was the strength of my healing. Relaxation, Visualization and Prayer are the three building blocks that support a spiritual life. Answer if appropriate. How will you implement these three building blocks in your life to embrace spiritual intervention for your daily walk?
Take time recording your answers for these three actions steps, Relaxation, Visualization and Prayer. Reflect back on the workshop to draw upon what you have learned. Be honest and forthright with yourself. Emphasize how YOU have learned to love yourself so that you will be able to love your neighbor.
Relaxation:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Visualization:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prayer:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Congratulations Steve, theGoodWordGuy again,
Be proud of whatever trauma you have overcome. Some victories are very personal; keep those close to your heart. Other victories should be shared with abundant enthusiasm.
Now that you have just finished developing your Soft Skilled Living Personal Wellness and Healing Plan, my suggestion is that you continually update your plan as you grow in life experiences and conquer one enemy to face the next.
As you will see, this page is a PERSONAL COMMITMENT that you acknowledge by initialing and signing. Remember that your wellness and healing are in your hands and in your mind; now commit to it.
Hold yourself accountable
Keep your hope in action
Practice unselfish love
Forgivingly love yourself.
Today’s battle is won, but the war rages on.
You owe yourself a good life, start living it.©
Steve, theGoodWordGuy, Cancer Survivor
I, ________________________ understand that my physical, emotional and spiritual well being are within my grasp. My wellness will be guided by my understanding of the values and meaning of the rejuvenating spirit of forgiveness, the value of thankfulness, the victory of hope, the emotional battles of life traumas; relaxation, visualization and prayer, the secret of time and the spirit of volunteering.
_____ I will breathe the rejuvenating spirit of forgiveness the rest of my days and strive to walk a healthy, natural path.
____ I owe myself a good life. The mental exercise of living a positive life will not always be easy. This is an important step in “learning how to love myself so that I will be able to love my neighbor.” I will be patient with myself, give myself room to fail and laugh about it and use the value of thankfulness as the foundation of living in a balanced environment.
_____ I will lean on the virtue of hope to provide strength, clarity of discernment and endurance for each of my days.
_____I will accomplish the greatest victory of survivorship by winning the emotional battles within.
_____I will incorporate relaxation, visualization and prayer as an emotional pillar of my life. I will teach myself to use these three actions each day.
_____I will use my valuable time to teach myself wisdom.
_____I commit to volunteering 1 hour a month as a positive investment in brotherhood and my community.
Life Trauma Survivor (LTS) __________________________________________Date:_____________
Steve, theGoodWordGuy here,
You have made the commitment to the wellness journey and healing of your body, mind and spirit. In closing, my prayer is that this Soft Skilled Living Workshop has been an inspiration to you and your loved ones in your quest for personal wellness. I hope your time spent with this workshop has strengthened you and your family like so many others from our Community of Survivors.
I leave you with a message held very close to my heart. The spirit of this workshop was greatly influenced by this prose written when I was desperately searching for peace, contentment and a path of wellness for my life.
As you read each line of this poem, reflect on the topics we have covered in this workshop. You have already learned about many of these life molding ideas. This piece of prose inspired me for many months as I walked through the darkness of each of my days in search of contentment. You too have started your new lifestyle of wellness and emotional healing, one that will never end unless you give up Hope.
“MY DAY IS OVER AND……
I have learned the Lesson of Time.
I breathe the rejuvenating Spirit of Forgiveness.
I live the Victory of Hope.
I honor the Essence of Humility.
I continue my true quest to learn Unselfish Love.
I strive to walk the Natural Trail.
I am, at last, at peace with my Creator.”©
Steve, theGoodWordGuy, Cancer Survivor, Life Trauma Survivor,