It's not really a word, rather a phrase, but has a meaning distinct from its relative "de facto" which means existing without legal authority. I presume is it Latin. Pro facto is literally translated as "for the fact", but it rather means considering or assuming a stated proposition as if it were fact. As if. That is to say, in doing so you realize that there is uncertainty, but you go with the best explanation until there is a challenge. Ruiz would suggest that we ought to avoid assumptions, and just admit to not knowing. But the world is much easier to manage when you have a framework for it.
What provoked me to look this up is the fact that the organization known as Oregonians for Science and Reason has a newletter by that name. What exactly did they mean whean choosing that title? That they were admitting that we are going with a working understanding of things that is subject to challenge, perhaps?
Please correct me if I have the shades of meaning wrong. Gracias.
BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.
ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
My resolutions for last year included a renewed emphasis on always doing my best. That practice allows me to go easy on myself when my best isn't the greatest. I did well on this resolution, especially when I decided to put my energies into doing the research that will allow me to be a good doctor, instead of simply doing what it took to pass my program. I feel good about the work that I've done and I know it will put me in good stead in the future.
I also resolved to keep my vision on the horizon. I have been swayed a bit much by men who have crossed my path; it is my weakness. My longterm goals need to be present in my daily life, and I need some way to remind myself of them. I think I was too vague about exactly what I was going to do, which helped me to not do it.
So let it be also resolved that I will make a list of my 10 longterm goals along with a timeframe for completion, and see how that ends up matching with reality. Prediction is a whole different matter from simply reporting what is. Planning is what makes some people in great demand as project managers. I need to manage this project of my life a little more actively and see how it goes.
Mind you I have a longstanding practice of going with the flow. I recognize the hazard of trying to force things, and I know the beauty in letting the finest manifestations emerge out of not knowing. I would like to enter a state of being in which the flow moves my goals forward. In other words, this is a good time for setting intention.
No nation keeps its word. A nation is a big, blind worm, following what? Fate perhaps. A nation has no honour, it has no word to keep. --Carl Gustav Jung during an interview with H. R. Knickerbocker in 1939
So. I didn't think I'd get this sucked into Flagstaff. Been running around visiting and hiking and shadowing Dr Welch, MD down in Sedona. Haven't even managed to spend a night in every guest room offered. It's kind of nice. Feeling really tired, though, in between all the activity. Perhaps I should lay around more and read another book.
Finished reading The Fifth Agreement (Ruiz) and really enjoyed it. It is so nice to read something that takes human health and sanity beyond dogma. I still highly recommend The Four Agreements to all humans. Wonderful book that brings me up a little higher every time I read it. Now I'm back to reading Dr Mate's book Encounters with the Hungry Ghost, about addiction. Great book.
I guess I won't be posting much, yet again. It's time to cook grits and eggs for breakfast.
I felt some loneliness the first week I was here. But now, no. I have enough acquaintances to not feel lonely. The landlady, Marie, speaks English and her bf is American. And her niece, Emma, also…
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