Michael Thielmann
Bio
I am an addiction and mental health counsellor living in Salmon Arm British Columbia. I love engaging with people about overcoming any challenges in their life and being vulnerable and open about my own process as well. <3
Stories (113/0)
Musings on 'my' Money
I think the most balanced view I've had around money was when I was a young child. My parents helped me learn how to divide my allowance into 3 different categories: Spend, Save, and Give. They had me put different amounts of money into 3 jars or boxes and label each of them. Of course, I was always most drawn to the 'spend' box, imagining what next toy I could buy and how much I had.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Humans
Overcoming old Fears
I've had an ongoing battle with fear around driving cars, and really any vehicle in general. I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but learning to drive was one of the most gut-wrenching and nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I avoided getting behind the wheel until I was about 22 years old, relying on public transit and carpooling. Thankfully I was living in and around Toronto so it wasn't really too much of a problem in terms of doing what I needed to do. Even so, the reality that I would have to eventually face this fear began looming more and more as I got older.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Humans
Confessions of a Caf-Fiend
I wrote a pretty cringe-worthy article on Vocal a few years back about my ongoing struggles with caffeine addiction, specifically with coffee. I never really used to drink the stuff until I entered into Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step recovery programs. They often have a big tankard of strong cheap coffee brewing in the meeting and I started drinking it mainly as a substitute for all the other mood-altering substances that I was giving up.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Confessions
The He(art) of Listening
One thing I have been learning how to cultivate over the years is the ability to truly listen to people. As a social worker and counsellor this skill was instilled in me early, but it has taken a long time to practice and hone it to become truly effective at helping people. The first thing I noticed when I started practicing active listening was how busy my mind truly was. More often than not, I was caught up in my own mental commentary around what the other person was saying, what I should say in response, and so on. I found myself jumping in trying to "fix" the person's problems instead of simply hearing them out and waiting for my turn to speak.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Humans
Bypassing my Humanity
Since I got into spirituality I have had to face many struggles with thinking of my human nature as inferior, or somehow "in the way" of realizing God or the Divine Reality. In meditation I would sometimes have experiences where everything about myself would temporarily subside into an all-consuming peace and unconditional love. When "I" would come out of that state, everything about me seemed like a giant obstacle to experiencing that love once again.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Humans
The Path of Patience
I had the insight recently that my whole life path has been about learning and cultivating patience. Since I was a young child I have struggled with being able to exercise patience for even short periods of time. Other kids seemed a lot more chilled out while I was often worrying and fretting about what was coming up next. I would complete school projects at record speed and would often get mad at myself for taking too long and making small mistakes. I would frantically finish homework so I could get to the fun stuff. When I was trying to enjoy myself in a certain activity I was often looking forward and anticipating the next thing that was coming up.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Humans
Thank You for All of it
In my journey of recovery from substance addiction I was often told about the power of gratitude. There are scientific studies that demonstrate the benefits of gratitude practices on the brain, and yet at times I found myself resisting these ideas at every turn. I would hold myself emotionally hostage by thinking in terms of, "Once a certain outcome happens, then I will be happy and grateful." I would struggle and strain to try to make things happen and would invariably find that I would derive no real satisfaction from the outcome even when I got everything I thought I wanted.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Psyche
"How" To Meditate
The reason I have the word "how" in quotations is because I find meditation to be kind of like a baby learning to crawl and walk. How does a baby learn? It just innately has the urge to do it and keeps making attempts until walking becomes second nature. The same is true for me with meditation. I just keep at it and trying different things until eventually it became automatic. There are myriad techniques that are taught in different traditions. Sometimes people get very dogmatic and attached to their techniques and become very critical of other traditions and methods that seem to differ from theirs.
By Michael Thielmann9 months ago in Psyche
Reflections on Falling in Love
This is a free-form contemplation on my experience of falling in love with a beautiful woman. When I realized how deeply in love I was with her, it didn't even matter if she reciprocated it or not. The reality of loving someone so deeply and completely became so inherently fulfilling. Even all notions of unrequited love seemed to fall away in the flood of beauty that ceaselessly arises. Is it a woman I'm in love with, or is it love itself, loving itself? Contemplating the beauty of her form, is the love found within her body?
By Michael Thielmann10 months ago in Humans
Let Meditation be my Medication
As a brief disclaimer, I am not advocating that taking any kind of medication is bad or wrong. I am speaking solely from my own experience of what worked in my own healing path. Some people I speak with seem to respond very well to certain medications. Since we are all unique, I always want to emphasize that I'm only sharing what is working for me.
By Michael Thielmannabout a year ago in Motivation