The Inn by the Healing Path: Stories on the Road to Wellness. Book 3: Letting Go

By David Spero RN

Healers and teachers are always telling us to let go, but they don’t usually tell you how to do it. Book 3 of The Inn by the Healing Path contains seven stories on the theme of healing through nonjudgment, acceptance, and letting go. Paths to acceptance described here include the Japanese wisdom of wabi-sabi, ideas from Sufism and Taoism, a new look at the Book of Job, radical forgiveness as practiced in restorative justice programs, and more ways ordinary people (and some special ones) have learned to let go and heal. Includes exercises for applying the stories to your own life. These stories will help overcome crisis, conflict, and pain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Spero RN
• Release date: Jan 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370438976

David Spero RN

The great French author Sidonie Gabrielle Colette said, “I’ve had a wonderful life. I only wish I had realized it sooner.” I have quoted her for years. Only recently I realized that her saying applies to me, too.I’ve been on the healing path for 35 years, and believe me, it's been a long trip! I've grown a lot, in ways I could not have predicted or even imagined. I created The Inn by the Healing Path to record the journey and help other people get here too.Stories are my favorite tools for healing. A long career as nurse, health coach, social activist, parent, journalist and person with multiple sclerosis (MS) has brought me powerful stories from all kinds of people. I report on them and others I have found. I have written books on self-care and others on the social causes and cures of chronic illness. I blog regularly about diabetes, MS, and spiritual growth.I will keep telling these stories as long as I am able. I hope you visit The Inn by the Healing Path often and tell others about it. I look forward to traveling this path with you.

Book preview

The Inn by the Healing Path:

Stories on the Road to Wellness

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Book #3 – The Book of Letting Go

By David Spero RN

Art by Andrea Staffeld

Copyright 2016 David Spero RN

Published by David Spero RN at Smashwords

ISBN 9781370438976

Copyright 2016 David Spero RN

Smashwords Edition License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends, but if they buy one for themselves, it will help me to keep writing. Please visit my author page to find other books you might like. See Books 1 and 2 of The Inn by the Healing Path on Smashwords, Kindle or any other e-book retailer

See my Print books at www.davidsperorn.com

Table of Contents

Welcome to The Inn by the Healing Path

Story 1 Not Really Yours

Story 2 All is Well

Story 3 Success and Failure - Partners in Crime

Story 4 The Power of Nonjudgment

Story 5 People As They Are

Story 6 The Power of Acceptance as Told by Job

Story 7 Because It Can’t Last

Thanks and Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Series and Other Books

Welcome

Welcome to the Inn by the Healing Path. People stop here sometimes on their journey to wellness. They’ll be happy to tell you their stories.

Books will be released every 6 months. Each book includes five to seven stories. Many of them first appeared on The Inn by the Healing Path blog, and when readers’ comments deepened the story, I have included them here under the heading Going Deeper. Going Deeper might also include updates. You can find the original posts, many of them illustrated, on the blog www.theinnbythehealingpath.com. I’ve listed the posting dates to help you find them.

For those who may want to meditate on or learn more from the stories, I have included some questions under the heading On Your Path after each story. If you want, you can use them as a workbook.

Of course, feel free to choose what to read, what questions to answer, and what to ignore. The Inn is your place to recover and to heal. Enjoy it.

David Spero

San Francisco 2016

Story 1 – Not Really Yours

"Don’t cling to things. Consider your property something that the universe (whatever you conceive that to be) has bestowed on you temporarily. Keep in mind that it can recoup this (and more) in the blink of an eye." Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly

Dobelli was writing about an economic quirk called the Endowment Effect. We tend to value things more highly when we own them. We don’t want to part with them, which can lead to bad investment decisions. His saying also reflects a spiritual truth. The Sufis say, You have many endowments which are yours only in trust. When you understand this, you can give them to the rightful owners.

Learning this wisdom can change people’s lives, as it did for Bishop William Greg Valentine of San Francisco. Valentine is Senior Pastor of St. Paul’s Tabernacle Baptist Church in the Bayview District. Last month, a group of us from Jewish Voice for Peace joined the community in repairing the church after an attack by vandals, who had destroyed pews and carpets and spray painted walls with racist graffiti.

While the work went on, Pastor Valentine told us a story. I used to drive a truck for Hostess Bakery, he said. I made good money, and I bought a lot of stuff, way more than I needed. I still supported the church and my family, so I thought that was OK.

"One rainy day, I had bought a $200 pair of boots and some socks at the mall. As I drove away, I saw a homeless guy sitting on the curb looking over his bare feet. In the rain. While I was