Sleep

by Ben Parry, Bexhill, Australia

For a while now I’ve been waking up in the ‘middle of the night’ at around 2am. I do go to sleep fairly early, but that is still only five hours sleep, so waking up then is just something I’ve been writing off as an annoyance, and I’d just go back to sleep for another few hours. Why would I wake up at 2am if I’m going to be wrecked at work by midday? I need my 7-8 hours sleep or I won’t be able to function. In fact, some days I know that even with 7-8 hours sleep I still hardly get through the day, so waking up even earlier is the last thing I would want to do.

Well, I was getting pretty annoyed that it kept happening, so one morning I decided I would teach myself a lesson and just not go back to bed. That way, I figured, I would be so exhausted by the evening that I would drag myself to bed and would probably get ten hours of solid sleep the next night. So I stayed up, but what to do with myself? I live in a house with other people so I couldn’t do anything noisy. Plus, I felt like I should only do something gentle, like I didn’t have the energy to get started running in a frenzy preparing for the day or anything strenuous like that – so I didn’t.  I did a bit of meditation, some reading; I even went for a fairly long walk because it turns out that three hours is a lot of time that early in the morning.

I Could Always Feel there was More to Life

by Nicole Serafin, Dietician, Nutritionist, Tintenbar, Australia

I knew for myself from a very young age that something was not right. It always felt like something was missing but I could never quite put my finger on it. I tried to seek answers from my peers but they didn’t know how to respond to my questions. At school I would ask the teachers “why are things the way they are?”… I usually got told “this is just the way that it is”. If ever I hit a nerve, or got too close to home, I would be sent to my room or told to sit out of class. I could sense as a child that what I was asking was important, however it seemed to annoy the adults and others around me.

Why is it that we can let life be so full of pain, discomfort and disarray and yet not seem to want to do anything about it?

A ‘Perfect’ Life

by Rachel Hall, Australia

Eight years ago I had what I thought was the ‘perfect life’ – it ticked all the boxes and fulfilled all my childhood dreams and ambitions. I had a University education, great job, flash car, big house, swimming pool, beautiful partner, two dogs, loads of friends, a jam packed social life, a fit body and incredible holidays. Not bad for a working class kid from inner city UK. I had become the success I always said I would become…. But under the facade of this successful life was the feeling that something was missing, and the more I had the more I wanted; so I bought CDs, books, food, the newest TV, flash sports gear, gym memberships, games consoles, computers and so on like they were going out of fashion.

Back then if you had asked me “was I successful?” I would have without hesitation said “yes of course, look at what I’ve got”. However, looking back my relationships were shallow and quite dysfunctional – especially the relationship with myself.

I didn’t want to disrupt my life but change became ‘inevitable’

by Susan Scully, Brisbane, Australia

My life to most would have appeared ‘normal’ in that I had ticked all the boxes: good job, successful businesses, great family, good relationship, plenty of friends, good health and the material possessions to go with it all. However I always felt like there was something missing, that feeling of being in a crowded room yet felt the loneliest one in it.

Why is it that it is not until a so-called ‘disaster strikes’ – something that upsets your everyday ‘normal’ life such as a life threatening illness or a marriage break-down – that you begin to re-evaluate and question your life?

Purpose in my Daily Living

by Ben Pash, Australia

I am a 38 year old man who has known Serge Benhayon and his family for about 6 or 7 years now. Up until that point I had my share of problems: in relationships, family issues, with work and with myself. As much as I would have liked to rectify myself I lacked the tools to do so. I tried many things from: yoga, chi-gung, Buddhism, to growing my hair long, not wearing deodorant and going to peace marches! I tried working really hard and at the other extreme being a surf bum on the dole.

You could say I was a bit lost in the world and searching for some identity.

It’s a Work in Progress and What a Beautiful Work it is

by Elaine Butler

I have known Serge Benhayon, the Benhayon family and the Universal Medicine team for four years and a more loving, dedicated group of people you could not find. When I first met Serge I had a benign tumour which I had been recommended to have removed with surgery but had refused as I didn’t have much confidence in conventional medicine. I felt I could deal with it through alternative healing modalities or spiritual healing and so for some years I tried out various things and despite the claims that were made the tumour was still there. I was reluctantly starting to feel that maybe a conventional surgery was the way I had to go when I met Serge.