It has been demonstrated, over and over again, allover the world, by legions of people who have endured traumatic experiences, that it is not the conditions under which we live that make us maladaptive, but our perception of those events.
The Healing Power Of Self Love (P. 12)
I woke up today and I said to myself, repeatedly, that ‘this is a nice day’. It was raining outside and there was a cool breeze in my room. The dry season had ended. On my way to town, as I sat uneasily in an overloaded taxi (some kind of mobile, rusted can), I focused my attention on the vegetation outside. The previously dusty vegetation had exploded into a sea of flowers over night! I marveled at this magnificent scenery, and remembered how powerful nature surely is.
I am happy today because I could breathe easily in the morning. I have just recovered from a number of incurable diseases: Neutropenia, Sinusitis, Asthma, Intestinal Ulcers, swimmers itch, and many others that I may not have been aware of. Tired and frustrated with western medicine, I went to a prominent herbalist in Uganda called Brother Anatoli Waswa, of the Banakaroli Brothers, and I swallowed his herbs for a month. As far as I can see, they have cured me! My white blood cell count (WBC) is up to 4.5, from a miserable 3.2. The minimum WBC of a normal human being is 4.0
I am happy today because I am on good terms with my family; my younger brother Cedric just bought 4 of my books; my cousins in the U.S.A, Dr. Pamela and Doreen, are sending me a lap top and a gadget that gives me 24 hour internet access; the orphans I counsel are back for their holidays (I work for Empower African Children); my neighbors are quiet; I played the Rich Dad cash flow with Mary Musirika and Jetha Muhangi, and I almost got out of the rat race; I am sober (as usual); Mandela is still alive (Thank God), Obama seems happy ( and I hope so is his wife); I met Col. (Rtd) Kizza Besigye and Maj. Gen. Jim Muwhezi, face to face a month ago (They are prominent Ugandan politicians)
I am happy today not because of the circumstances under which I live, but because of my choice of life perception. There are many things I could have chosen to whine and cry about: the goat’s meat I ordered for lunch was full of bones; My shoes are old; my apartment is too tiny and I keep bumping into the walls; my neighbor’s kids make too much noise, and they are perpetually nude; my neighbor’s wife (concubine) nags me a lot; all my brothers are richer than me; I haven’t seen my girl friend in more than a year; a frog just hopped into my room (I had to smash it with a mop!); some of my workmates are always complaining about their need for a pay rise, and they gossip a lot; one of my employers is unfair to me- sometimes;
Uganda is too backward- it seems to have lagged 100 years behind the rest of the world; I need two new teeth in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw; I need a new wardrobe ( and not second hand clothes!); I hate the internet; I have failed to meet Obama; I haven’t been to the gym for six months; I am not liked at Kabalagala market (where I have my lunch), because I complain a lot about the poor hygiene standards and diet in the restaurants;
I could choose to waste away by complaining about that kind of negative staff, but I don’t. Over the years I have learned to strive to look at the bright side of life, because, ultimately, my life is what I perceive it to be. Without a doubt, I will strive to be happy tomorrow as I have today, and as I did yesterday, with much success. Life is too long for me to spend it in a pool of self pity, worry, fear, self doubt, and self destruction. Let’s live this life, today, tomorrow, and forever in happiness.
I know for a fact that there are happy people out there without food, clothing, shelter, education, teeth, transportation, internet access, quiet neighbors, relatives, legs, eyes, employers, workmates, tribes mates, TV, Radio, etc. Surely, happiness is a state of mind.
OSCAR BAMUHIGIRE has more than twelve years of experience as an alcohol and drug addiction counselor. He has a degree in Psychology from Makerere University, and training in the Therapeutic Community model from DAYTOP International, New York, U.S.A (America’s oldest and largest drug treatment program). In 2003, he represented Africa at an international symposium on alcohol and drug addiction held in Rome, the Vatican, organized by the Vatican and the Italian Federation of Therapeutic Communities. During his stay in the Vatican, he personally met Pope John Paul II. He is one of the founders of Serenity Centre, which is Uganda’s only residential treatment center for addicts. He has also worked as an addiction counselor in other countries like Bangladesh and Kenya, authored more than one hundred newspaper articles on addiction treatment, and featured several times on Ugandan Television and radio talk shows. Early in his career, he received a vocational Award from the Rotary Club of Kampala South in recognition of his work with addicts. Oscar Bamuhigire suffered from alcoholism for ten years, but recovered in 1995 after he joined a 12 step group. He currently lives in Uganda, where he works as an addiction counselor in private practice. He has a website at:http://www.writersownwords.com/
ISBN: 9781440101373
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