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 %MODE COPE REASON LOGIC STORY METAPHOR SIMILE LIKE 891122

     There  are various ways of coping with the challenges
of life. Different people cope in different ways, and lead
different kinds of lives.  The kind of life which a person
leads  depends greatly upon which mode of coping leads  in
choosing  the  ways of coping with  the  challenges  which
arise daily.

     Some  people  cope through the telling of stories  of
heroes  who have coped in meaningful ways.  In the telling
of  their stories they embody insights into the habits  of
spirit,   heart  and  mind which led wisely  in  times  of
challenge.  The stories do not tell them what they must or
should   do.   The  stories  lead  them  to  discover  for
themselves  the leading insights which characterize  their
community,  and which shed light on the issues of life and
death.

     Some   people  cope through the  use  of  traditional
communal  rituals which embody leading insights  into  the
nature   of  life  and  death.   Through  slowly  changing
traditional  rituals they maintain a context within  which
patterns  of  balanced communal life are passed  from  one
generation   to  another.   In  the  performance  of   the
traditional rituals they convey the key habits of  spirit,
heart and mind which led wisely in times of challenge. The
rituals  do not tell anybody what they must or should  do.
The  rituals  lead  them to discover  for  themselves  the
leading  insights which characterize their community,  and
which shed light on the issues of life and death.  Through
their   rituals  they  tell  their  stories  about   life.
Sometimes stories are rituals, and vice versa.

     Some  people cope through rational  procedures  which
are  used  to  figure  out how to get from  one  place  to
another place in communal life. They learn many techniques
for  transport from one communal time and place to another
desired communal time and place.  They often change places
and circumstances, and seek to be in control of where they
are  and how they travel.  Hidden in their procedures  are
obscure  suggestions of which times and places are  better
than  other times and places,  but their heroes  are  more
preoccupied with the technology of communal travel,   than
with  choosing wisely the most meaningful destinations and
habits of spirit, heart and mind for the journeys of life.

     Some people  try  to  cope  through demonstrations of
respect for prescriptive statements regarding what  people
should  do in specified types of situations.  When  it  is
observed  that such prescriptive statements often lead  to
tragic conclusions,  they often demand greater respect for
their  misleading  statements;   or build a  more  complex
structure of revised prescriptive statements to deal  with
more carefully specified situations.

     Some  people contend that their particular  style  of
coping  is  better  in an exclusive  way  than  any  other
particular  style of coping.  Such people seek to  exclude
from  their daily lives elements of the styles  of  coping
which  are  different from their chosen superior style  of
coping. Through their exclusivity they blind themselves to
essential insights which make life meaningful.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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