Finding Hope in the Midst of Despair

There is much to be said about how you use choice in your life. Most particularly, the way you choose to react and behave, and where you choose to find hope in the midst of despair, may well make the difference between a life of frequent pain and one of inner well-being and harmony despite outer events.

Choice comes into it in many ways, but one of the most immediate and important, is choosing to remain aware. You can't possibly make choices that are good for you if you are not aware of the fact - in a situation of despair, pain, or fear - that your thoughts are running away on you; indeed, that it is precisely your thoughts that are causing much of the turmoil that is going on inside of you.

Next on the list of how choice comes into it is choosing to actively do something about those thoughts that are running away on you. By being aware of them you can do this (begin to practice doing this), and most particularly, you can choose to first find a place of inner calm and equanimity before you consider what might need to be done out there, on other levels, in order to deal with the event.

So you choose to become aware in general in your life at all possible times, and you choose to intend to be in charge of your thoughts when they race towards places in your mind that do you no good, and you choose to focus elsewhere in order to achieve that inner harmony and equanimity. Note that this is not a question of running away from a problem, or pretending it doesn't exist, but rather, a question of deciding you will first take charge of yourself, your inner state of being by taking charge of your thoughts. In order to do so, you will help yourself greatly by choosing where to focus. The more you focus on the event and the emotions it has created, the more you increase the weight of the thoughts that do you no good. And so you choose to focus elsewhere. You can focus on beauty, as I so often recommend here.

Focusing on beauty in nature is a simple method that allows you to be present. Being present (or mindful) allows you to leave that dark space in the past or future where your thoughts had taken you - the thoughts that fill you with trepidation, pain, worry, stress, or fear. Being present allows you to access inner calm. And being in a space of inner calm, allows you to choose your thoughts. Choosing your thoughts implies you can choose hope (and if you don't believe me, or if you think your particular situation is so much worse than anything I could imagine and hence does not apply to this post, take a look at the lives of Viktor Frankl, Nelson Mandela, or Christopher Reeve, and the books they wrote from their deepest despair. They chose to choose hope).

Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch:

Rewiring the Soul

Click here to download the first chapter.

To see the Table of Contents click here

Reviews From the Back Cover:

"The masterwork of a profoundly gifted healer of the soul. Dazzling, challenging, wondrously useful." Peggy Rubin, Director, Center for Sacred Theatre, Ashland, Oregon; author: To Be and How To Be, Transforming Your Life Through Sacred Theatre

"Rewiring the Soul is one the best introductions to the spiritual life I've ever read. Not esoteric but real-world & practical. The implications are profound." Peter Shepherd; Founder Trans4mind.com; author: Daring To Be Yourself 

"The human being's directory to the soul. A breakthrough for those seeking practical assistance, those of a more mystical bent & every soul awaiting discovery." Toni Petrinovich, Ph.D.; author: The Call: Awakening the Angelic Human

The Tao of Spiritual Partnership

To download the first chapter, click here
To see the Table of Contents click here

Praise for The Tao of Spiritual Partnership

“All humans seek the illusive touch of another's Soul, which opens us to the sense of belonging to something bigger than the self. Dr. Kortsch has given us the true "tao" of relationship in this brilliant exploration of emotional tapestry. We will be grateful for this illumination of spiritual partnership for generations to come."
Chris Griscom: Spiritual Leader, Author (among others) of: Ecstasy is a New Frequency

“Eloquently and comprehensive, showing how your primary love relationship may be a sacred vessel that transports you and your partner to a place of mutual healing and expansion.” 
Robert Schwartz: Author of Your Soul’s Gift: The Healing Power of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born 


The Power of Your Heart: Loving the Self 

My new book: The Power of Your Heart: Loving the Self, is just out. Here is a brief excerpt from the Introduction:

It is your right to live a life of love. It is your right to understand that loving yourself first is not a selfish way of behavior, but one that allows you to live that life of love. However, it's highly probable that you never got the instruction manual explaining exactly how to accomplish this. Possibly your family - and it may have been a loving family - considered loving the self an act of selfishness. Or perhaps the members of your family simply didn't practice loving the self, and of course, what you didn't see - what was not shown to you - while you were growing up, meant that you just didn't learn how to apply it to yourself. The closer you are able to move towards loving yourself, the closer you will be to living a life of love - quite independently of whether you are in a love relationship or not. A life of love can be lived with or without a partnership, because a life of love implies that you know that it all begins with you by loving the self. The more clearly you understand how to love yourself, the more clearly you will see that it is very hard - if not impossible - to love others in ways that are unrelated to fulfilling any of your needs. Loving yourself first is - for so many of us - one of the hardest things we will ever learn how to do. But know this: the benefits affect you in every particle of your being - body, mind, and soul - and are greater than you will ever be able to imagine.

Note: If you are wondering why this blog is now only appearing on alternate days (excluding Sat/Sun), it is because I also post on my other blog on the others days. That other blog is Rewiring the Soul so named for my first book. Click here to visit the blog and/or to sign up for the feed.