My Big Buddah & the Unplanned Moments of Life

After finishing the workshops in Hong Kong I was introduced to some possible site seeing opportunities in the area. Some of my new friends were sharing about a quick ferry ride from HK to an island near by where one can take a bus or cable car up the peak to a Buddhist Temple. Evidently at the top of the peak there is an incredibly large statue of Buddha.

That was enough to inspire me towards the adventure. The following morning I decided to casually go about my day with no plans other than to attempt this ferry ride & see how far I would get.

Now may be a good moment to mention that when I travel I tend to find the idea of having minimal plans fantastic. Needless to say, I found the ferry launch and while awaiting the boarding time I happened to sit next to an incredibly friendly couple named Yvone & Michelle from Seoul, South Korea. Here is a picture of them:

Come to find out, Yvone runs a Pastoral Counseling center in Seoul called Seoularium Counseling. It was such a nice surprise to connect and learn about their work & life in Seoul. Michelle is a jazz pianist! It seems that the universe continues to direct me to connect with amazing people who are helping make the world a more peaceful place!

After our leisure stroll along the beach I found out the departure center for the buses leading up to the Temple. That’s when I decided to give my new friend Irvin a call; Irvin works at Treasure Island and adventure therapy site on Lanteau. He was just passing by the bus center in time to scoop me up for a ride around the island! My surprise adventure landed me on an incredible beach at sunset where the staff of TI greeted me with incredible friendliness & hospitality.

Irvin introduced me to Currin Cooley, an American born but International minded gentleman who is doing fantastically exciting research in New Zealand. Currin’s dissertation is focused on Cross-Cultural aspects of Adventure Therapy .What a treat to sit and chat about Adventure Therapy across cultures! I am so impressed with the work he is doing and the partnership between he and TI which has led them even now to mainland China to incorporate more community work and adventure therapy for youth. Currin. . . Wherever you are in the world: Please keep us posted on your findings and Thank You for doing this exciting research!  Your stories and experiences are an inspiration

While enjoying the time at Lanteau Island I was so content meeting such kindred spirits. And I was reassured that sometimes the best and richest moments in life are the ones unplanned. It was an amazing lesson for me that my Big Buddah on Lanteau Island came in the form of a Phillipino, an American-Kiwi & a gorgeous beach sunset! Live in the unplanned moments!

Taiwan

In Taiwan and giving a lecture today on Experiential Activities!! It's going great and the participants are awesome!!! :) More to come!!

Stages of Change

After 6 hours of teaching, Dim Sum lunch, lots of great discussion the weekend was a success!Thanks so much to Wellness First Workshops & Anthony Cheng for all your kindness and organization. Here is a quick pic of my super host:

I conducted three different lectures during the day. We covered our foundation for the day in the morning: Stages of Change. The feedback from the afternoon indicated that all the participants most benefited from beginning with that material. We had some incredible discussion about how to work with our clients in Denial. We also spent some good discussion on helping those in Contemplation do a Cost/Benefit Analysis of their behaviors. Here is a really great picture!

In case some of you have never had proper Dim Sum please go to your nearest China town to give it a try! Incredible assortment of foods! Thanks so much to my gracious group for lunch. I tried at least everything that was ordered-what an adventure! And of course loads of hot tea!

Of course we finished the afternoon with a lecture covering Addiction. More on that & what I learned from my participants later! Closing the day out, we reviewed elements of Compassion Fatigue & Burnout. It was great to lead a few minutes of Mindfulness with the participants! Such a great reminder to slow down and enjoy the moment we are in right now!

I was so excited to have them take me to Mongkok after the workshops. That was a totally interesting experience. Tons of people, tons of lights, tons of shopping in the Ladies Market and really authentic and unique foods. Check us out in our traditional dining establishment.

Thanks so much to Anthony, KY, Casey, Brenda & Irvin!

HK Lights

I had an incredible time meeting up today with my host Anthony and finishing up our preparations for Sunday. He was so gracious to give me a small tour of part of Hong Kong today. A few of the places are below

The Jade Market was super neat! Tons of beads, pears & of course jade everything. Such great colors and shades!

Then we picked up some street food. . . .



And check out this Glitzy mahjong game center!

Hong Kong

I've officially arrived in Hong Kong! Aside from some slight time vertigo of uncertainty what day I'm currently in-things are great! My awesome hostess & friend took me to a fantastic Chinese restaraunt with a great group of folks! So far all is well and I'm very much looking forward to learning about the area and culture.

The city feels safe and its so interesting to see the Chinese characters on all the signage. Tomorrow I go to meet the conference coordinator Anthony near the Man Mo Temple and then we will have tea & prepare further.

Exciting days to come!

Quick Heroin Facts

Did you know: that the average heroin user has witnessed at least 4 overdoses one of which end fatal.

Deaths of peers do not teach actively using heroin addicts to stop using heroin.

Kayaking Intuition

Last week I was practicing some of my paddle strokes while kayaking. My kayak master was trying to help me practice something called a "brace" stroke in an effort to help learn how to avoid tipping over. It was interesting because he was trying to help me understand that in order to practice saving yourself from tipping over you've actually got to allow yourself to essentially tip yourself over thus initiating the "brace" stroke. 

I was struggling with the stroke because I had a difficult time pushing myself to attempt to tip myself over. My own fear and uncertainty was holding me back from learning the very tool that would help save me. The metaphor stuck with me throughout the day. Why is it that sometimes we let our fear hold ourselves back from embracing the tools that could offer more safety and security?

Pieces of Wisdom

Here are just a few of my favorite sayings from working with people in Recovery:


"If you have one foot in the past, one foot in the future, you end up peeing in today."


"Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies."


"Once a cucumber is a pickle, it can't go back to being a cucumber again."

Living Amends

I’ve been working with people in recovery since 2003. Specifically, the last few years I’ve had the privilege of treating individuals with Substance Abuse related issues. Before I knew much about the 12-step Recovery Programs (i.e. AA & NA) I had many mis-perceptions which largely stemmed from my own ignorance. Today I feel blessed to have seen first hand these programs changing the lives of recovering persons every day.

One aspect of the 12 step model focuses on making amends to those we’ve wronged. This starts first with taking a moral inventory of one’s self, making a list of personal defects and wrongs committed against others and working towards making amends to those individuals.

That kind of character analysis is courageous if you ask me. And countless recovering addicts attempt this sort of challenge in their sobriety. How many non-addicted persons dare to take such a microscope to their character?

People in recovery talk a lot about learning to make amends for their past wrongs. They often admit that making amends has to be more than just a promise to change or an apology. They say “You have to make a Living Amends. I can say to the people I love that I’m going to change but I’ve said that before so why should they believe me? I have to live the amends.”

When we want so badly for others to show us the change we want them to make, let’s ask ourselves “How am I living the change in my life?” We can’t keep promising change and then waiting for our action to catch up to our intentions.

Roman Brain Power

Recently while flying back from Rome I was trying to beat jet lag by keeping myself awake. I came to realize after watching episodes of 30 Rock and The Office that there was an option to listen to Audio Books. I can't tell you what a relief this was to stumble upon given my displeasure for television shows.


Luckily, I was able to jump into Chapter 2 of Getting Organized in the Google Era which was remarkably intriguing. The premise involves using our brains effectively and utilizing the internet & other tools to essentially organize what doesn't stick in our long term memory (i.e. reason #176 why you need an iphone).


As a side note, I appreciate how he uses musical lyrics throughout the book as a way to connect his thoughts and keep our interest. That was clever Douglas.


So the part that I keep coming back to is this notion of our Constraints. The emotional, psychological, physical kinds of obstacles that impact our reactions to life. He talks about Assumed versus Actual constraints. And it made me think of working with people, how so often I feel that my work is helping people make sense of this: is what I am facing an Actual obstacle to my life, or a road block I am Assuming to be an obstacle?


I don't always have the answer to that question. In fact, who can really judge that for certain but the person experiencing this? But given how easy it is to lie to ourselves and potentially underestimate our own capacity to take risks, it makes me wonder again about the importance of feedback and honest observation from those we trust so that we can decipher a little more clearly this difference of assumed vs. actual constraints.


What am I assuming to be an obstacle in my life that may actually just be fear?

Root of the Problem

I recently attended the SAMHSA conference in downtown Chicago where I had the luxury of hearing from Francine Ward talking about esteemable acts. What I appreciated most, besides her incredible ability to speak candidly about her own recovery, was her focus on action.


For people in recovery, whether that be from addictions, mental health issues or the scars of our own pasts, action is often barred by so many obstacles. Sometimes for good reason people get overwhelmed by those obstacles whether they are self-induced or external. I really enjoyed Francine's lecture because it reminded me that no matter what we are facing there is some form of action that we can take.


At one point in her lecture she made a comment that was something like this: If I'm not the problem, then I won't change. There is something very empowering about the notion of looking for ways that I may be holding myself back from whatever piece of life I am wanting to have more of. Today let's try to look at ourselves and ask honestly what small piece of action can I take.


In the meantime, I can't stop listening to French music and am finding myself wondering what kind of action I need to take to hear it in person :) Ciao- SW