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17/06/2010 by Piercarla Garusi.
There are many theories on what cross-cultural integration is.
Some say one needs to adapt to the new culture, but what does it mean to adapt? What is integration? Is it becoming like the people in the country? Is it acquiring the same values and beliefs of the country? Would that be psychologically good for the foreigner?
Like the fish in the bowl, often a person is not aware of the impact of their own culture on their subconscious programs, unless they have lived abroad and done personal growth work; they are often not aware of how their culture has shaped their understanding of the world, how people ’should’ be or behave, how they ’should’ lead their life. Being not aware, they are not free, nor connected with who they truly are.
In my opinion saying that a foreigner needs to become like the people of the country in order to integrate is the ‘easy answer’, and it can cause psychological imbalances in the person, as I have seen in expat clients.
Successful integration is a much more complex and flexible process - to adapt and remain true to oneself at the same time.
Saying that the expat would need to acquire the same values and beliefs might cause in the expat denial of who they are and increase of their shadow. If we do not integrate all of who we are, and be who we are, we will hold negativity within ourselves, and we will cause pain for ourselves and contribute to the global negativity.
Perhaps the SOULution is that we all do personal growth work to free from our cultural programming, connect with who we truly are, embrace our shadow and so discover that we are all one at the level of the Soul, that there are common values we all hold, because that is who we are - Love.
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17/06/2010 by Piercarla Garusi.
Here are some thoughts.
I agree that coaching is very helpful and empowering to people - probably a high percentage of the population does not have goals or direction, lives in apathy, they let themselves be lived and react to what they think ’happens’ in the outside world.
But if the goals are not linked with who they are and their purpose on this planet, can they be fulfilling?
If the person is not connected with who they are and love all that they are, how can they feel peace and joy?
Even though they have goals, can people be fulfilled if they do not achieve the foremost goal of Self-Realization, of understanding what they truly are?
How can they feel real fulfillment in relationships if they are not connected at the level of the soul?
And once they have goals and they strive to achieve them, how can they feel not the stress which might come from massive actions, but the peace and ease which comes from alignment with the Spiritual Laws?
As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said: ‘We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.’
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17/06/2010 by Piercarla Garusi.
Some thoughts on finding one’s purpose which perhaps can be of help:One of the things that prevents people from understanding their purpose is trying to figure things out, but if we try to figure things out, we will never find the answer. This is because the solution does not come from the mind, it comes in the mind when we let go of wanting to know the answer; it comes from a Higher Place in the form of an intuition. Same is for wisdom - we are all connected with an ever present sea of wisdom, but we need to let go of the mind/ego to connect with it. Sometimes people do not know their purpose because they do not love themselves, they think they are unworthy of being unique and special. Every human being is precious, every human being without exception is magnificent, they need to dare be that.There is a beautiful quote which describes it:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
– from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson
Sometimes people confuse living in the now with frenetic living; that would cause just stress and to go far from who they are. Living in the now is living in the timelessness, it is oneness with the whole Universe. Living on purpose is different from living one’s purpose. Sometimes people live on purpose and still feel empty; that’s because they have made decisions for their life, but they have not really connected within. We can align with our dharma, we can feel deep down within ourselves something about what we are here to do on this planet, and then trust and allow the Universe to guide us. And so, I believe what we think our purpose is might evolve over time, as we are guided. Purpose has to do with meaning, with what is meaningful to us; and often it has to do with doing something for others. Purpose has to do with joy, with what brings us most joy, with what we love. As the Dalai Lama said, ‘I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy.’
* published also in a group discussion on LinkedIn
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