12 Step programs have something pretty useful called the Set Aside Prayer, and I'd like to share some of it with you. It goes something like this:
Please help me set aside everything I *think* I know about myself, what I'm going through and especially you, so that I may have an open mind and a new experience of all these things. Please let me see the truth.
I find that most of the time when I'm trying to figure out the right course of action, I'm plagued by limiting beliefs -- ideas that I've learned through long forgotten experiences that may no longer serve me well. Sometimes I presume malice is the culprit to my maladies when ignorance or apathy more more likely cases. Sometimes I see distinct choices when mutual exclusivity does not exist. Sometimes, I hold on to resentment without knowing what the resentment is. Sometimes I think problems can be solved with by asking if, when they can be solved by asking how. Sometimes I believe people are obsessed about my actions and my daily life as much as I am.
Whether I believe in god or not, a prayer for change in *my* perspective requires no external party. And in this case the The set aside prayer helps me reset, and say goodbye to my accumulated luggage for a particular situation, and step into it with a fresh set of eyes.
