Holistic Living

About the Book

Holistic living is about: Oneness with the Sacred – It is the thesis of this book that one attains the state of wholeness by actually discerning, encountering and being in communion with God in the ordinary process of living; this is the basis for solid, deep spiritual life and psychosocial harmony.

Self- knowledge – Self-awareness is the tendency to pay attention to the totality of oneself. This entails focusing attention to one’s inner processes such as thoughts, beliefs, feelings, moods, et cetera, as well as outer world of relationships, including one’s mode of being-in-the-environment and in-the-world at large. It is a process of self-exploration which leads to self-knowledge. Knowing myself better makes it easier for me to make decisions that enrich my life; it makes it easier for me to make informed decisions about life’s circumstances. Self-awareness facilitates our living in the present, in the here and now and by so doing we are able to live more fully. One who has a fair degree/level of self-awareness is to a great extent in control of one’s life, is calm, relaxed and is generally a happy person.

Lack of self-awareness has certain consequences. The person who lacks self-awareness goes through life in a dream-like state. Things happen mechanically, there’s no control of one’s life. Such a person’s life is devoid of depth. No depth of feeling, no deep happiness, sadness or any feeling for that matter. There is no passion for life.

Loving another and receiving love - Truly, I have become more human, very much alive because of those who appreciated me, those who understand me, those who bear with my failings and weaknesses, and those who love me. Without the assurance that there are people who love me I may not be alive today. I live because of those I love and those who love me. I used to wonder why some people commit suicide. When you look closely at the lives of suicide victims, one sees lovelessness - either they don’t love anybody or there is no body who love them. Read suicide notes and you’ll understand what I mean. We need to pause and observe how we relate and treat one another. It should awaken in us a renewed and humble sense of who we are, what we are called to be, our responsibility towards our fellow humans, to our fellow humans, to the planet earth and to the universe.

The road to love is that narrow path that few people travel, and yet it is the only road to fullness of life. Many people fail to travel by it because they lack the discipline, they have no courage to face the pain and sometimes the frustrations involved. Rather than assume responsibility for their actions, and for their life, they shift it to other people, preferring to live in the illusion that all is fine with me. I am ok; Jesus is my only friend, my only lover, human love is nothing. It is a lie! Human love is valid. That is the story of the incarnation; love became flesh, embodied, human, so that we can touch it, feel it, eat it, embrace it, smell it, and see it. This is the love that Jesus Christ represents. There is no other way to God except by way of love – embodied, disciplined love. The love that chastises as it instructs. It entails ordering my life in ways that enlarge me and others spiritually and otherwise. Genuine love is precious; it is a pearl of great price which is nurtured in the crucible of discipline. As gold is tested, purified, and refined in the fire, so our love must be purified in the fire of self-discipline so that we can love more freely, clearly, more feelingly, more responsibly and without conditions.

Being involved in creative action in the world - How do I approach work, labor? Do I see work as a burden that must be borne? Do I see work as filled with emptiness, futile, meaningless and as such should be approached soullessly, thoughtlessly? Labor is an indispensable aspect of human life for it enables humans to express their creative energi

About the Author

Euckay U. Onyeizugbo, Ph.D; M.Sc. Nig., B.A. Villanova University. She studied Clinical Psychology at University of Nigeria; she is a Psychotherapist, and Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She spends her leisure reading, conducting research on issues that widen the frontier of knowledge, and volunteering in organizations that alleviate unnecessary human suffering. Dr. Euckay is a peacemaker. She strives to make the world – wherever she finds herself – a better place. She envisions a world where conflict will be radically minimized. She believes that for peace to reign, the human person must imbibe the virtues/values of self awareness and knowledge, justice, equity, honesty, and respect for all peoples. She is the author of the book: Stuttering: Prevalence, Aetiology, and Treatment Using Regulated Breathing.