The oath we take in medical school includes the line primum non nocere, “First, no harm.”
In self-brain surgery, we recognize that we are learning to use the breathtaking design of our mind-brain-life interface for our own good, as the surgeon instead of being the helpless patient.
And so, our first commandment is this:
I will relentlessly refuse to participate in my own demise
(The First Commandment of Self-Brain Surgery)
Read it out loud.
I will relentlessly refuse to participate in my own demise.
Note that this is not a refusal to live sacrificially, to pour into others, to give more than we take. This is a decision to honor the fact that if we are never filled we cannot then fill. If we never heal we can never help others heal. And we cannot grow, lead, or make progress if we harm ourselves with choices, negligence, self-abuse, numbing behaviors, or unforgiveness.
Are there places in your life where you have committed self-malpractice, or where you are currently participating in your own demise?
Reply to this post or leave a voicemail and tell us. Recognizing it, admitting it to yourself, and going all-in on making it right for your patient (yourself) is the first step to healing. You can’t become a powerful force for good for others if you keep wounding yourself. You will run out of blood eventually if you keep making yourself bleed.
Sacrifice, yes. Self-martyrdom, no.
Generosity, yes. Self-inflicted poverty (of mind, body, spirit or resources), no.
Commit to a life of balance, of service that comes from a place of fulness rather than a sense of squeezing the last bit of juice from an exhausted life. Avoid numbing behaviors and paying tomorrow taxes, and refuse to treat bad feelings with bad operations.
This is the life of a compassionate self-brain surgeon: someone who knows they cannot serve others if they fail to, as Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Listen to this podcast for more on The First Commandment:
Be sure to check out last week’s lesson if you missed it.
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We’re going all in on believing that we have the tools to change our minds and change our lives. Living from a mind-down perspective changes everything, and it helps us harness the transforming changes to our lives that the Bible promises in Romans 12.
The neuroscience is on your side, my friend.
And the good news is, you can start today.
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Are you with us? Reply to this post and say, “I’m all in,” or leave a voicemail and tell us.
Lisa and I are praying for you.
Dum spiro spero (While I breathe, I hope),
Lee
Psalm 71:14 ("As for me, I will always have hope.")
From the banks of the North Platte river on Moon River Ranch in Nebraska, USA
Don’t forget that you can get the recent podcast archive with transcripts of all recent episodes by clicking the button below.
love this analogy. thanks for writing!