Skip to main content

On the Use of Relics

I've been sort of smacked in the face with the use of relics in the past few days.  Now this isn't a reference to any specific religious relics - I'm not being flogged with St. Sebastian's bones or anything like that.  No, the relics I'm referring to are those that remind me of the promises I've made to myself.  J.B. Glossinger talked about relics a bit today in his Morning Coach podcast on the "Depth of Creativity."  He described them as a way to touch your spirituality or ground your spirituality in yourself, and they can be religious reminders or otherwise - whatever serves you best.

I have a few relics that I keep with me daily.  One is a Livestrong bracelet.  Yeah, that yellow one that Lance Armstrong wears.  I initially started wearing it because I thought (and still think, for that matter) that Lance is an ultra-stud and wanted to support him in his quest for the Tour de France title(s).  But as I've moved through life, the quote "Live Strong" means more and more to me.  The purpose of my relic has gone from sheer idol worship to acceptance of mindset of living with strength, being strong mentally and physically, and remembering to take care of myself and my family.

A second relic I wear regularly (until recently when its strap broke) was my Autism Speaks bracelet.  It's a reminder that I have a son who has challenges in his life, and it's my job as a father not only to help him overcome those challenges but to help him see the strengths that those challenges give him.

Interestingly, now that it's broken and the amulet portion of it is sitting on my dresser at home awaiting a new strap, I think about it even more.  As a relic, it's become so much a part of my life that I am uncomfortable not having it on my wrist.

The third relic I use is a money clip - a suggestion from Paul Kyriazi of the Live the James Bond Lifestyle seminar and website.  My clip even has three small circles on it that make me recall the beginning of a Bond movie, where Bond's being tracked by a sniper before turning and firing.  It's a reminder that money flows through my life like the energy it is, and that I need to expend that energy in a positive manner, in ways that are beneficial to me and my goals.  It's also a reminder that where I spend my money is where I'm putting my energy, so that it's important for me to spend money only on the things I deem worthy of my energy.

I see these relics as reminders of the important things in my life, and have placed importance on them to bind me to my goals and my ambitions, and also to remind me of the mindset of success that I'm working hard to adopt.  It's not always easy to make such changes in one's mindset, and anything we can do to keep those thoughts at the forefront of our consciousness will also help to push those thoughts and positive energy into our subconscious - where the real change needs to take place.

What relics do you use in your life to remind you of your goals, mindset changes, and the like?
Labels:

Comments

  1. Brenda GeeJune 9, 2010 at 2:35 PM

    I surround myself with many relics.:) I have an old poem entitled "I Am a Voice" that is taped above my computer. It reminds me to use my own voice to ask questions, advocate for others whose voices get lost in "the system" and to speak freely and honestly. I spent many years keeping quiet, not any more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JamieJune 9, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    Good for you, Brenda! Words can be relics just as much as any object. One of the things I like about relics is that they're so individual and each one has a great story behind it.

    You can tell just how much the relic means to a person by the enthusiasm with which they tell that story... yours is obviously very important!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Caffeine and Cortisol - a 30-Day Experiment

No Caffeine for Me! Today, I began upon a 30-day experiment to reduce my cortisol levels by removing coffee from my diet. The goal is to see how it might be affecting my cognitive function and my belly fat. Cortisol is a hormone that is related to stress .  At a very basic level, cortisol is created as a response to stressors in our environment.  Back when we were still chucking spears at deer and chasing down antelope, cortisol was helping to preserve our lives by giving us quick energy by signalling to our livers that it was time to engage in a process known as gluconeogenesis. This process is basically the breakdown of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, into glucose - one of the two monosaccharides (the healthy one) that our bodies use for fuel. Picture this - you're walking across the street, enjoying the day, when suddenly some inattentive driver tries to turn and doesn't see you.  Your heart rate speeds up, and you get a little burst of speed to quickly sp...
18 comments
Read more

Capture Those Crazy Ideas with Connected Mind

Are you one of those people whose brainstorming abilities are barely under control?  When you have an idea, do the details come pouring forth in a tidal wave, and get lost as they crash to the shore and pour back into the sea? That is me in a nutshell.  I'm full of ideas, but when they come it's hard for me to get them under control and organize anything.  I've tried notepads, using my good friend Evernote , and a whole host of other stuff to get those crazy ideas under control and in some semblance of readability.  But that's tough sometimes when you have eighty things going on at once.  Enter my new favorite tool, the mind map .  I don't know if you've ever come across this concept, but basically it's something like this:   The basic idea is that the shape at the middle is the "main topic" at hand.  The branches out from the main topic are the subtopics, and then the smaller branches are the details, etc. It's a simple enough conc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Your Goals Might Not Be My Goals

I got a tweet to my @Train4AutismCLB account the other day, just out of the blue, that really got me thinking about goals and motivations.  For those who aren't in the autism community, there's a bit of a rift regarding the charity Autism Speaks, which is the biggest, most visible autism charity out there.  Many people who are higher-functioning autistics believe that one of the organization's stated goals of "curing" autism would only take away a facet of their personalities that make them what they are.  Then there are those who would love to have a cure for autism or at least some way to relieve some of the nastier aspects of autism and help their loved ones to have an easier time functioning in today's society.  It's a fine line, no doubt.  But the tweet I got was from someone whose profile said they were an aspie, which is shorthand for someone with Asperger's Syndrome.  This is a high-functioning form of autism where people are very smar...
2 comments
Read more