Balance. Purpose. Enlightenment.

The Mental Virtue Discrimination


Lemurians develop the mental virtue Discrimination to judge between what’s good and what’s better.

My daughter wanted to check out some colleges in California over spring break. She doesn’t like to fly, so driving was her preference. My husband couldn’t join us and I was nervous about the two of us traveling alone on a 30-hour drive. It also meant I would miss extra days of work, making the decision even more difficult. But this was a chance to work on the mental virtue discrimination. In the end, I decided to make it happen.

But a few days before we were to leave, my daughter broke out in the strangest-looking rash – unusual spots on her back and her arm. The doctor sent us home with some cream to rub on the rash, but even he was baffled. Now I was starting to feel anxious and worry thoughts took over:

What if the rash gets worse while we’re on the road? Wouldn’t it be better to be near our own doctor in case the rash intensified? What if we have car trouble? What if something comes up at work and I can’t take the call because we’re driving through an area with no cell phone coverage?

These must be signs that we aren’t supposed to go!

My daughter wasn’t worried at all. In fact she was one hundred percent confident we needed to take this trip. So opposite to what I was experiencing! So, whose gut feeling should we trust? It would have been much easier to call it off, chalking it up to my bad vibes. But I felt I owed it to my daughter to at least ponder the matter a little longer since she was feeling nothing but good vibes.

Trying to think this through, I had to admit that whenever new or uncharted experiences present themselves, I tend to react uneasily. Constructive concern serves an important purpose by sounding a silent alarm that can remind us to make the best choice we can. But my kind of worry was not constructive and not dependable to put my trust in. Realizing this helped me decide that my daughter’s feeling about the trip was probably more reliable. After all, even if the things I was worrying about happened, we could still deal with them.

So off we went!

mental virtue discrimination
The quality time with my daughter feels all the more precious now

That trip was one of the most joyful and memorable I’ve been on! And the quality time with my daughter feels all the more precious now that she’s away at college. There was no worsening of the rash, no car trouble, and no calls from work to detract from the wonderful time we spent together. Times like these make me all the more grateful for my Lemurian teachings.

Before becoming a Lemurian, I’m sure I wouldn’t have taken the necessary time and thought to decide which way to turn, but would have acted on my first cautious impulse. And not only would I have missed out on a beautiful experience, I would have passed up a valuable chance to learn more about myself and my tendencies so I can continue to grow and improve.

Copyright © 2016 Lemurian Fellowship

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