ABOUT 10 years ago I did a wonderful course in Cork.
It was called a SHEP course. At the time I hadn’t a clue what SHEP was and it would be fair to say I was unable get the image of a dog out of my head for a long time.
On further examination I discovered that SHEP stands for Social Health and Educational Project. I couldn’t say enough about this course and the people that run it.
I would highly recommend it to anyone who wanted an insight into how one can improve one’s life or to help with any type of life issues, especially emotional issues such as depression, anxiety, grief, childhood issues, abuse of any sort, bereavement amongst many others.
I can honestly tell you that despite my obvious enthusiasm for these courses, I don’t have any shares in the company and to be honest I’m not even sure if it is a for-profit organisation. Google it!
What I can tell you is that the who person advised me about it said – and I can still remember the words – I’m not quite sure how it will help you but I can guarantee that it will help you.
How true those words proved to be and I will be eternally grateful for that piece of sound advice.
Personally I was not in a great place emotionally at the time, but I was singular in focus (says the optician!) and I was determined to get better.
Another unusual thing happened before I commenced the course. A lady from the college rang me and told me that there was 16 people were doing the course and that I was the only man.
I thought about it for about one second and replied that “I applied to do this course, I am delighted to be selected and if I am the only man then so be it”.
I look back now and say to myself ‘how’s that for fighting talk’ but honestly I was that desperate to find a solution and that nothing was going to get in my way.
I still remember it so fondly and the people who did it as we were bearing our souls at a level in an absolutely safe, secure, highly confidential environment.
In fact we were clearly reminded that any slight breach of confidentiality would almost definitely result in expulsion.
This created a loving, caring, considerate learning environment where people could express themselves knowing that everything was safe and secure.
We had great times and often did learning/educational awareness type exercises in a group environment.
It was also my first introduction to meditation and also to strict punctuality. The course went on for about 30 Monday nights commencing at 6.30 sharp and each session lasted for about 2 ½ hours with a 15 min break for tea in between.
Each session started with a 10 minute meditation practice which helped to ground the group. If you were 1 minute late you had to wait outside the door until the meditation was completed and then you could sheepishly enter.
All I can tell you was ‘yours sincerely’ was never outside the door and I learned a great lesson on the importance of punctuality. Great memories, great friends, great times and great rewards .
If there was something to make me sad it was the awareness that for each of those 15 women there were 15 men perhaps drowning their sorrows on a barstool somewhere.
They might never admit to that and perhaps could regard me as somewhat weak for doing such a course. My reply to this is a great Polish proverb that I learned.
‘People’s drama driving you crazy! Just remember – Not my circus, Not my monkeys’.
In other words, what other people think ultimately has nothing to do with me as long as I remain respectful.
What I do know from my logical point of view is that one should look for an emotional solution to an emotional problem, if at all possible, and that alcohol or any drug for that matter is not the solution.
They may temporarily mask it, appear to alleviate it but can often result in more harm being done.
Next week I am going to write about An Emotional journey II
