Serenity II - a continuation of Serenity I

To achieve serenity, it will help us if we are able to tell ourselves honestly whether we are playing “games” or not. But it takes a lot of courage to accept to ourselves in the dead of night that there is something inside us that needs fixing. No one else can fix the problem for us. The “script” we play must be rewritten or we’ll stay forever wilted and explaining why we are wilted without a way out towards a fresh and fulfilling life.

It looks so daunting to confront ourselves on who we truly are. But others have shown by their experiences that being able to identify our dark side is a step towards serenity. These questions may be helpful: Why do I do things the way I do them and complain that I am not happy? Is there a way that I can change course? Do I blame others for my lack of inner peace? Do I wish I were another person and why? What hinders me from becoming the wholesome personality I want to be? What hinders me from achieving self-confidence? Do I measure myself using the happiness indicators of others? Should my capabilities be always validated by others for me to stay happy? We write our respective life’s stories. Ideally, we write our story honestly. But there are instances when we write from the dimension of the false self. The false story is not so much because we want to impress people we relate to with the story or script. The presentation of the false self is sometimes even an unconscious force that emanate from painful experiences in our formative years. We call the stories drawn out from the dark alleys of our fears both known and unknown as “scripts”. We act out these “scripts” . We play these “scripts”. Psychologists also refer to these “scripts” as “games” we “play” to be able to cope with the harsh emotional pain that keep coming. These games are gimmicks meant to explain why we are not as happy as we want to be. But the trouble with “scripts” is that they trap us into unhappiness until we decide to change the course of our lives. Eckhart Tolle, Writer and Spiritual Teacher, refers to these recurring disturbances as “mental noise”. “Scripts” brings a lot of “mental noise” into our everyday lives. Eric Berne, a psychiatrist, refers to the “scripts” we play as “games”. With the “games” we “play”, we think we are able to shut off the noise inside ourselves. The “if’s and but’s in our lives make up the mental noise that we want to escape from but would never let us go.

Serenity and self-esteem are related. We can only laugh like a baby if there are no splinters or foreign bodies inside our chest. We can only stay brave and firm while confronting unjust situations if we are calm and sure of ourselves. Community Organizing helps people build their self-esteem through an action- reflection process. Through a community process, people revisit their organized action and ask themselves how their collective act challenged their very limited concept of themselves and from there pick up lessons on hope and inner power.