Author : James Slobodzien
OK, I Confess. It was All My Fault (Just Another Hawaii Earthquake Story?)At approximately 6:45 a.m. my alarm woke me up to the tunes of some loud rock & roll. I really don't remember who was playing because I hit the snooze button as soon as I could reach my old clock. This was a Sunday morning (15 October 2006), and I was to teach an 8-hour class on substance abuse at a local university to a large group of graduate students. I slowly dragged myself out of bed and stretched my back a little, prior to tip-toeing out of the bedroom in an attempt to not disturb my wife's sleep ( - like she didn't hear the loud blast of rock & roll). After splashing some cold water on my face in the bathroom, I walked into the living room and turned on all of the bright lights hoping that this would wake me up enough to review my plan for the 8 – hour class. After reviewing the schedule for the day, I thought that I should add a "spiritual group exercise," so I began reading the following guided imagery script to prepare myself:"Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Just feel the cool air coming in and the warm air going out. As you concentrate on your breathing, you will begin to relax. Your arms and legs will begin to feel heavy and warm. See, as completely as you can in your own way, an image of ocean waves. Don't worry about how you are seeing these waves. Just try and see them as completely as you can. See the waves build, as you inhale, and wash upon a shore as you exhale. There is no right way or wrong way to do this exercise. There is just your way. God knows exactly what you need to experience. Feel yourself relax more as you see the waves build and wash upon the shore. You begin to feel more at peace."Picture an island, inside of your mind, with palm trees and lush green vegetation. See yourself standing on a white sandy beach watching the ocean, watching the waves. There is a trail on this island, and you see yourself turn and take this trail. You walk under the palm trees. You are not in a hurry. You have plenty of time. You walk to a hill that is covered with wildflowers. You climb the hill, and as you do, you become more tired. Your arms and legs feel heavy."At the top of the hill is a huge field of flowers. You can see all the way down to the sea. You sit in the center of the field and feel yourself relax in the sun. You call out for the Higher Power of your choice three times. You may call out for God, or Jesus, a Higher Power, you choose, but call out three times. (Chemical Dependency Counseling by Robert R. Perkinson, 2002)Well believe it or not – it was exactly at this time (7:07 a.m.), when I felt the fear of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake – violently shake my little condo on the 30th floor. I could see my heavy big screen Sony - tube TV rattleling like a snake – so I held it steady from falling over on me. My wife came running out and I hugged her. The God awful rumbling noises and shaking stopped after about 5 to 10 seconds (felt like 15 minutes), until the less severe aftershocks arrived approximately 7 minutes later. From then on it was coping with the power outage that lasted 14 – hours and having to climb the 30 floors of stairs – twice, once with 5 – gallons of water on my back – that made my day quite interesting.That morning, one of my students made an interesting comment after I called her to cancel the class and told her this story. She said, Oh, so it was you that caused the earthquake.James Slobodzien, Psy.D. CSAC, is a Hawaii licensed psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor who earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The National Registry of Health Service Providers in Psychology credentials Dr. Slobodzien. He has over 20-years of mental health experience primarily working in the fields of alcohol/ substance abuse and behavioral addictions in medical, correctional, and judicial settings. He is an adjunct professor of Psychology and also maintains a private practice as a mental health consultant.
Keyword : Hawaii, Earthquake, Spirituality, God, Poly-behavioral Addiction, Religious Addiction
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