Dare to Grow Up Learn to Become Who You Are Meant to Be

by Dunion, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780910155878
• ISBN10: 0910155879
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-04-12
• Publisher: Bartleby Press

Summary

People often think that maturity is something that you gain over the years, that by simply living long enough, you’ll end up a mature person. But it’s an achievement, one that not only takes time, of course, but effort and courage as well. Paul Dunion compares this process of growing up to the cultivation of crops: “Some seed can simply be tossed about and regardless of light, water and nutrients, this seed will prevail and come of age,” he says. “The rest of us resemble the seed in need of stewardship, where attention needs to be paid to weeding, watering and enriching the ground that holds us.” Dare to Grow Up offers a unique study into the psychology and culture surrounding maturity, from personal shortcomings that stunt growth to wider societal attitudes that limit the discovery of our true selves. If you are willing to open your mind to the mysteries of life and enrich your life with all that the world has to offer, you can begin to discover who you were meant to become.

Author Biography

Paul Dunion has been working as a psychological healer and teacher for the past thirty years. He has devoted himself to making peace with mystery and the lessons involved. His teachings focus on what it means to bring deeper levels of truth and compassion to our individual narratives. His lectures and writings explore how to organize a life around authentic personal empowerment and renewal of the soul. Since adolescence, he has been a student of philosophy, advocating for a vision informed by the heart. He is the founder of COMEGA (Connecticut Men's Gathering) and Boys to Men of Norwich, CT (a community mentoring project for teenage boys). He is the author of two books: Temptation in the House of the Lord, and Shadow Marriage -A Descent into Intimacy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The Lost Art of Maturing	p. 3
Mentors, Ritual and Community
Cultural Interference	p. 25
A New Cosmology
Leaving Home
Anatomy of a Boundary	p. 43
How Do Boundaries Work?
Three Types of Boundaries
Quality of a Boundary
Finding Our Love
Receiving Boundaries
Self-Loyalty	p. 77
Faithfulness and Devotion
Self-Betrayal
Creating Self-Loyalty
Discernment and Boldness
A Proper Time for Power	p. 115
The Nature of Personal Power
The Anatomy of Abuse
Abuses of Power
Abdication of Power
The Challenge
Personal Power and Autonomy
Moving Out of Victim Stories
Death of the Inflated Heroic
A Sacred Reference Point
Time for Healing	p. 161
The Wound
Resistance
Feeling Vulnerable
The Medicine
The Wounds Gift
Wounding and Healing as Initiatory
The Many Faces of Healing
Forged by Intimacy	p. 209
Emotional Intimacy
What It Isn't
What Is It?
A Cornucopia of Proper Times
Can There Be Too Much Diversity?
Emotional Generosity
Wind and Breath	p. 245
Three Faces of Spiritual Immaturity
Spiritual Food
Betrothed to Life
The Novice Mystic
Initiated by Life
Life Offers Initiation
Fate's Assistance May Not Be Obvious
Calls to Spirit	p. 273
Abdication of Power or Victimization
The Adventurous Life
Seeking Faces of the Self
Circling Back
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