Auto Suggestion, Self Suggestion and Meditation
The subconscious mind makes no distinctions between thought impulses whether they be constructive or destructive. It works on what ever material it's fed. It will translate thoughts driven by fear just as readily as it translates thoughts driven by courage and faith. Those who go down in defeat and end their lives in drunkenness, poverty, and distress do so because of a negative application of the principle of auto suggestion ( All Impulses of Thought Have a Tendency to Clothe Themselves in Their Physical Equivalent ). The law of auto suggestion that allows a man to rise to heights of staggering imagination can best be understood in the following verse.
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but you think you can't.
It's all most certain you won't
If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellows will,
It's all in the state of mind
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high and rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man Who Thinks He Can !
Always be positive in the way that you think and feel and you'll always get a positive reaction. I spent a life of "Hell" in the Gray World and by using the methods that I'm giving you from my heart, I was able to return to the Real World and now I'm living a happy and successful life.
BREATHING EXERCISES:
Basically, this is what you do: FIRST clear your mind of everything. this includes worries, brought about by substance abuse, work stress, troubled relationships, everything and anything. SECOUND.. Inhale through your nose as deeply as you possibly can. THIRD when you feel like you have reached your lungs maximum capacity, keep trying until you cannot breathe in anymore. FOURTH now hold it for a few seconds, and exhale through your mouth slowly, taking 3-4 seconds to fully exhale. Repeat this and keep doing it for as long as you feel able, I do this every morning when I get up and every evening before I go to bed. See if you can at least do this for 20 minutes a day.
Here is another way that I sometimes do deep breathing. I enjoy taking long walks So I breath in deeply when I take 5 steps and slowly exhale when I take the next 10. I repeat this several times while enjoying my walk. Our life energy is carried in our breath
This practical effort to focus completely on our breathing takes our minds away from the "mind clutter" that constantly tries to invade our mind and eliminate feelings that will lead to a time of calm. With repeated effort the goal of clearing your mind (to think of nothing), does occur and the process of meditation takes on its own energy. The result is, and I guarantee this, peace, serenity, calmness, eventually opening yourself up to new insights.
Breathing exercises make it easier to do the relaxation exercises that prepare you for auto suggestion, meditation, self hypnosis and other mind enhancing exercises. They are simple, they take very little time and they put you in the right frame of mind.
Auto suggestion applies to all suggestion and all self administered thoughts and ideas that reach the mind through our senses. Auto suggestion and self suggestion are basically the same. Simply put, it is a way for the conscious mind to communicate with the subconscious mind. We have complete control over all the thought that reaches our subconscious mind, therefore it is the best way to change the way we think. We can completely change our life using a few simple steps. You can liken your subconscious mind to that of a fertile garden in which weeds will grow in abundance if the seeds are not desirable. Auto and self suggestion is the method which we use to feed our mind with creative thoughts and ideas. By neglect we permit thoughts and ideas of a destructive nature to find their way into the fertile garden of the mind.
One of the major weaknesses of the average person is the word impossible. We know all the things that will not work and we know all the things that cannot be done. I suggest that you take the word impossible out of your dictionary and replace it with the phrase " All Things Are Possible. Those who succeed in life are success conscious and those who fail are failure conscious. What I am teaching you is the art of changing your mind from failure conscious to success conscious. Your abusive habits have steeped you in poverty, want, failure, misery and defeat. Now were going to change all of that and change your way of thinking to the valuable and rewarding things in life.
Our brains have become magnetized with the dominating thoughts that we hold in our minds. These magnetic thoughts attract us to the people and the circumstances of life which harmonize with nature and control our thoughts and ideas. I have outlined six definite and practical steps that will help you reach your goals. They are simple and easy to follow.
This is one of the methods I use to exercise my mind and change my way of thinking. It's my way to meditate in a light hypnotic state or even take it deeper. Make a list of the kind of suggestions that you want to present to your mind before you lie down and relax, otherwise it may interrupt your state of meditation.
Relaxation Exercise
(1) Go to a comfortable place where you won't be disturbed relax in any comfortable chair or lie down on your bed .
(2) Close your eyes and try to rid your mind of any hostile feelings. At first, you will find it difficult not to think. Thoughts and Ideas will keep intruding. When this happens, don't try to force the thoughts out. Observe them , and let them slowly fade away.
(3) Now let's get rid of the tension in your body. Beginning with your toes, imagine the tension slowly falling away and vanishing. Imagine it freeing each body part one at a time starting with your toes and working its way up your body. Visualize each part of your body becoming lighter and lighter as the tension is removed. relax your toes, then your feet. Continue with your calves, thighs, hips, stomach and so on, until you've relaxed each portion, including your face and head.
(4) Take slow, deep breaths. When you exhale, see the tension and negativity leaving in a dark cloud. As you inhale, see the air returning as a bright force filled with life and energy.
(5) Appreciate the fact that you are now extremely relaxed. Imagine you are at the top of a flight of 10 stairs. Picture every detail of this scene from the top to the bottom. Tell yourself that you are going to descend the stairs, counting each step down, starting at 10. Picture each number in your mind. Imagine that each number you count is further down and one step closer to the bottom. After each number, you will feel yourself drifting further and further into deep relaxation. As you take each step, imagine the feel of the step under your feet. Keep counting and stepping down until you reach the bottom. Once you reach the bottom imagine that you are happy and relaxed.
(6) At this point, you should begin to address the issue you're concerned about. Speak in the present tense. Your subconscious mind does not understand negatives in speech - avoid using statements with negative connotation such as "I don't want to be a miserable drunk." Instead, say, "I am calm and relaxed and alcohol isn't my problem." Examples of positive statements "I am strong and I won't surrender to weakness," "I am successful and positive," and, if you have pain, "I feel wonderful."
Repeat your statement(s) to yourself as many times as you wish.
(7) When you are satisfied, say to yourself that you will now count upwards to 10 from 0, and when you reach the number 10, you will slowly rise back to normal consciousness and remain calm and relaxed. Proceed to count upwards, again picturing the numbers in detail.
You can make more precise impressions stimulating your mind to except positive suggestions easier and quicker using this simple relaxation method. Using the same method up to and including step six will prepare you for this next exercise and the exercise that follows.
(1) Make yourself completely aware of what you are trying to achieve and make it a definite goal. Picture your life as you want it to be. Paint that picture permanently in your mind.
(2) Keep in mind that you don't get something for nothing. What are you willing to give in return for this gift.
(3) Establish a date, time and place that this will happen. Will it be now?
(4) Establish a definite goal and make a plan for carrying it out. Begin at once whether you are ready or not. Take action.
(5)Write out your plan and be concise. Describe every detail. What you will do to achieve it. What you will give in return. When it will happen.
(6) Read your written word aloud, twice daily, once in the morning and once at night. As you read, see, feel and believe that you are all ready there.
It is important that you follow theses instructions. The object is to want this more than anything and become so determined that you will have it, that it becomes an obsession.
Bear in mind this is only a few of the techniques that I use. Meditation Retention, repetition and memory are others.
Take a good look at your life. Has alcohol or drugs numbed your brain and taken from you what you really wanted your life to become? Have you given up on creating the ideal life you once dreamed of having? Has substance abuse caused your life nothing but misery and pain? I have been their and I know your answers to these questions. Thank God I found the solutions before it was to late. I found out that not only substance abusers but most people settle for the life they are living. Nobody has to settle for a life in the Grey World (Alcohol, Drugs and Crime) or a life that is just ordinary. Unfortunately most people except what life dishes out. The solutions to recovery are the steps that I'm teaching. I know they work because they've worked for me and countless others. I want you to discover your purpose in life by using your own creative energies to attain that purpose.
It is important for you to dream big and set positive goals for what you're seeking to accomplish. I don't want you to miss out on your own true potential. Nothing is impossible it's up to you to make it possible. Once you know what you want, the next step is to manifest it into your life.
The steps that I've outlined for meditation will put your body to asleep. Your subconscious mind will be brought to the conscious level and you will be in full control over your mental abilities and thoughts.
Before I continue I'd like to quote what William James, the Harvard psychologist known as the Father of American Psychology, had to say about the power of the subconscious mind.
"The greatest discovery of the 19th century was not in the realm of the physical sciences, but the power of the subconscious mind touched by faith. Any individual can tap into an eternal reservoir of power that will enable them to overcome any problem that may arise. All weaknesses can be overcome, bodily healing, financial independence, spiritual awakening, prosperity beyond your wildest dreams. This is the superstructure of happiness."
Meditation
Repetition and retention amplifies and intersects with sense. I use them both to help me memorize and write.
This is repetition of a negative kind, referring to men of crime; "When men first come into contact with crime, they abhor it. If the remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to it, and endure it. If they remain in contact with it a long enough, they finally embrace it, and become influence by it." You could reword it just a little bit and it could apply to substance abuse or change it around to a positive nature and it could apply to recovery. This would be an interesting exercise. Why don't you try it, and see what you can come up with.
Memories are constructions made in accordance with present needs, desires, influences, etc.
Memories are often accompanied by feelings and emotions.
Memory usually involves awareness of the memory. We may not be conscious of the fact but memories are claimed to be significant causal factors in shaping conscious thought and behavior. There is a great deal of supportive evidence for the claim that the more traumatic an experience, the more likely one is to remember it. There is also evidence that extreme traumatic experiences are forgotten and hid in our subconscious mind.
Anyway, I like to use different methods of meditation and again it is my educated opinion that meditation is a good way to get rid of stress, sleep better, eliminate anxiety, relieve depression, boost intelligence, creativity and confidence, slow ageing, increase energy, and create remarkable emotional changes at the deepest level? The experience of deep meditation is so powerful it immediately begins to create profound, positive changes in the structure of your nervous system and your life!
Alpha Level Exercise
With this exercise we will enter your center brain
frequency, the level for deep relaxation, The Alpha Level
While in the Alpha Level, you will experience the beneficial effects of Meditation. Once You Learn to Reach the Alpha Level, you can use these techniques too: reduce stress speed up your body's natural mental healing change your attitudes, get rid of negative habits, apply creative visualization and use your intuition.
(Intuition "The ability to sense or know immediately without reasoning",
When meditating several important things happen physically and mentally. We "focus internally" and let go of the outside world (the same as going to sleep, but without losing consciousness).
This permits our brains to change into a more stable and stronger brain frequency normally reached during slumber.
When we can reduce our brain frequencies to these levels while staying awake we are able to bring the unconscious mind to the conscious level. This allows us to control the power of the unconscious mind.
There are two types of meditation. Passive Meditation and Active Meditation. Each method has its own way of reaching the inner state of mind. and each has its own goals.
Passively letting go and going within, we "deactivate" our survival mechanisms and allow our body's natural health and rejuvenation abilities to be activated.
Using these two techniques will allow you to use the relaxed, healthy state of mind that occurs during meditation to solve your day-to-day problems. By tapping the super-conscious to solve problems, reach goals, come up with new ideas and solutions to problems
For these next few techniques you have to be prepared with the right equipment. You will need a Walkman disk player and recorder and a musical metronome. If you don't have these items then I want you to buy them. I bought the very best of both at Amazon, COM. for about $30. Make sure you get a metronome that will let you listen to the beat. Return to this exercise when you are ready.
Now I'm going to teach you my method of self hypnosis The first exercise is a set up exercise. Pay close attention to my instructions.
(1) Make your self comfortable, relax and get ready to record. You are going to record an audio that will guide you to a healthy, relaxed level of mind. Place your metronome near the receiver and set the beat slow to medium. Record your voice in a slow monotone sound. Practice with normal phrases. Record your voice and then play it back until you get it to sound like you want it to sound. Make sure you have picked up the beat of the metronome in the background. You might even want to play soft beautiful music it the back ground but don't drowned out the beat of the metronome. The music can help set the rhythm of your voice.
(2) Imagine yourself as a meditation instructor or a famous hypnotist putting your subject into a trance. When you are ready you can start recording. I'll guide you through the process. Remember you are a professional instructor or hypnotist.
(3) Slowly repeat after me; "Make yourself comfortable,(short pause) Close your eyes and relax (short pause) sense the feeling of warmth caused by circulation. Relieve all tensions in your body (pause) Slowly relax , keeping in mind that it takes longer to relax your body then your mind. (medium pause) Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. place your body in a deep state of relaxation.(short pause) I'm going to guide you through relaxation process (pause) Now direct your mind to your scalp. concentrate on this part of your body .feel a deep sensation of warmth caused by circulation (pause) This is normal (pause) Feel a tingling in the skin surrounding the scalp (pause) release and completely relax all tensions and ligament pressures from this part of your body (pause). concentrate on relaxing all the parts of this part of your body including the skin, tissues and the cells (pause) Feel a deep sensation of warmth and tingling (pause) This is normal, caused by circulation (pause) Deeply relax and relieve all the tensions and pressures in this part of your body.(pause) release and completely relax all tensions and ligament pressures from this part of your body (pause) Go deeper and deeper every time. (pause) Let your mind feel your body healthier and healthier every time.(pause)
Note: Go through this whole process for each part of your body all the way down to the heals on your feet. ( your eyes and eyelids, your nose, your lips, your throat, your shoulders, your chest, your stomach, your waist, your abdomen, your thighs, your knees, your calves, your ankles, your feet toes and heals).
(4) Concentrate on your feet, remove them from your body, they do not belong to your body. (pause) Your feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, waist, arms, hands and shoulders feel like they do not belong to your body. (pause) Your are now at a deeper healthier state of mind then before. (pause)
Note: Now you have your subject (you) in a deep state of relaxation. It's time to enter positive resources. First enter a tranquil and passive scene. Example; A walk through the woods on a beautiful summer day when the breeze is gentle, the birds are singing, and the squirrels are playing happily in the trees.
(5) Describe a scene in which you feel beauty, comfort and joy.(long pause) Describe another scene that makes you feel happy and comfortable (pause) Visualize your self being happy and healthy ( You'll see these scenes in your mind when you are listening to your recording)
(6) (Record this) You mind is now in a deep state where you have complete control, deeper then before.
(7) Enter a positive resource state. Example. I am the master of my destiny, I'm stronger and wiser then I've ever been, etc
(8) Now anchor and test anchor.
(9) Break State counting backwards from 10. When you reach 1 open your eyes and be wide awake.
(10) Congratulate yourself
Remember this;
1. Start to "concentrate" right from the beginning of your recording when you sense the awareness of your scalp area. Start practicing concentration, practice makes for perfection.. Establish your "awareness" focus a colorful light into that area
2. When you are coached to detect the vibrations in that area, such as, "feeling of warmth caused by circulation" concentrate on trying to feel the pulsations of those vibrations in that area.. Of course, it is the blood circulation we are talking about. You may not feel them on your first try, but keep practicing and eventually you will.
3. When your recording instructs you to "release and completely relax all tensions and ligament pressures from this part of your body". Concentrate on it, and amplify your imagination. Imagine your scalp being fully relaxed.
When you combine your body relaxation with mind relaxation you will be much more relaxed at the end of that exercise. The more you practice, the easier it will be to relax completely. Practice makes perfect!
The more you go into alpha, learn to visualize, relax, and tune into your intuition, the healthier and better your life becomes.
My techniques are all simple yet really effective in the way you change your way of thinking. Everyone has a threshold for what they can handle coming at them from the world. When that threshold is exceeded, we attempt to deal with being pushed over it with a variety of coping mechanisms, including anxiety, anger, depression, overwhelm, sadness, substance abuse, and many others. The main thing meditation does is provide a stimulus to the brain that pushes that threshold higher.
There are several exceptional CD's that can help you change your way of thinking through meditation using audio suggestion. Preprogrammed suggestions by leading psychologists do wonders for your mind. However self induced suggestions pre recorded by you are the most effective. Buy yourself a small recorder and record the messages that you want to use to change your thinking and stimulate your mind. You can meditate while you're sleeping. Don't procrastinate, do it. This technique works faster than you can imagine. When you go to bed tonight use the steps I use to put my mind in a hypnotic state and set your recorder to play the suggestions while you sleep.
By using these two exercises I noticed that my mind is getting sharper, that mentally things seemed to flow better. As amazing as it sounds, and this is a fact, I find myself becoming more intelligent, more focused, more intuitive, and more creative. My memory is better and I seemed to easily find solutions to problems and situations that had given me trouble before.
There is no better way to control or completely eliminate abusive drinking from your life then the methods that I offer you. I've already stated that it is my opinion that Alcoholic Anonymous does a great job as far as they go. However 45% of the people who attend AA meetings never return after their first meeting and 95% never return after their first year. Based on Alcoholics Anonymous World Services' own statistics AA has only a 5% successful retention rate.
Those people who leave AA often look for solutions in other conventional alcohol rehabilitation programs, yet 97% of the conventional alcohol treatment centers are "12-step" or AA based, thus individuals essentially have to rejoin AA to get help. They rejoin and drop right back out.
Conventional alcohol and drug rehab centers do not work for the majority of people seeking help. Many people will have a better chance of recovering without being exposed to conventional alcoholism and drug addiction treatment programs.
All of the techniques and steps that I use in my book are powerful and easy to use. The more you practice the simple steps I teach the more your brain will streamline them, making them easier to do and re-enforce their effectiveness. In this exercise we will program a resource state into a future situation. Now use the steps that I have given you to put your mind in a relaxed state. The more relaxed you are the more powerful this exercise. Make sure you anchor and test anchor as explained.
(1) Think of what you want more of in a future situation ( Ecstasy, Joy, Happiness, Creativity, Confidence, Compassion, etc.)
(2) Breath deep breaths and take yourself deeper into a trance. Deeper and Deeper. (each time you do this you'll be able to go deeper)
(3) Imagine a time in the future that would allow you feel this resource. A time when you' feel it the strongest. Put your body and mind right into this place or time. Take yourself deeper.
(4) Completely associate with this experience. See what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Make the colors brighter and brighter and make the sounds louder and louder. Anchor these feelings by squeezing your finger and thumb.
(5) Take note to where these feelings are in your body. What color would give you these feelings. Imagine spreading that color through out your body slowly, up and down. When the feelings are amplified squeeze your finger and thumb to capture the feeling.
(6) Now snap out of it. (Break state of mind) Look around the room. Remember something important.
(7) Test Anchor: Squeeze your finger and thumb together. If you have done the above steps right you should feel those feelings coming back.
(8) Congratulate yourself, this is important because it re-enforces the thought in your mind that that you can do this exercise
This exercise is referred to as a supreme resource state. It can be used to empower personal changes. Resource states are states of mind that can be used to positively reprogram your past, present and future.
How to make amazing personal changes fast and simple using Power Time lines. With timelines you can make positive changes to your way of thinking fast (almost instantly) and easy. We are going to use this step to process new information to your mind that will change your way of thinking and give your recovery an "emotion explosion" . It can be a little difficult right a first to except this new concept but once learned it becomes easy. Visualize your mind as being a large incredible flexible bio-super computer that represents information in an infinite number of ways. The time line is a line that takes you from the past (eg childhood), to the present and into the future allowing you to move back and forth a few degrees (meters) at a time. So let us do this experiment. I think you'll enjoy it! Once you get this concept down pat you will be on your way to massive benefits. Let's get started;
(1) I want you to find a room that is actually big enough to allow you to walk a timeline.
(2) Stand in the middle, look directly in front of you, this represents the present.
(3) When you move slightly to the left visualize moving back a year,. move a little bit further and go back 5 years, keep on moving to the left all the way back to where you were an infant. This will be the start of the line. Play with this until you are comfortable with it.
(4) Now return to the center (The Present). Moving to your right will place you in the future, imagine where you will be a year from now move a little more-2 years, a little more - 5 years etc.
(5) Notice that at any point on the timeline you can look backwards or forward, traveling from the past, to the present, to the future.
* Congratulate yourself. You have just created one of the most powerful change concepts in existence!
(6) Stand in the present, look to the left in your past, remember a time from a few years ago when you had a wonderful experience, remember it's position on the timeline. You may see a vague picture or represent this time with a symbol. If you don't see anything remember it's place on the timeline. Trust it!
(7) Remember 3 more experiences from the past and position them. Remember where they are.
(8) Now imagine 2 future events and position them. Remember where they are.
Now you are ready to do an amazing "emotion explosion" ( don't you just love that phrase, it was introduced to me by a Russian pen pal.)
(9) Think of a negative emotion, that you think of often, that you would like to change.(guilt, nervousness, resentment)
(10) Put yourself in the Present position on the timeline.
(11) Move slowly to the left until you get to the time you first felt that negative emotion.
(12) Keep moving to the left and stop every time you feel this emotion. Remember the positions on the timeline. Go back as far as you can to the first time you felt this emotion.
(13) Skip and make the next step 14
(14) Now step back of the timeline and picture it in front of you. Notice the memories that you have positioned. Trust Them
(15) Out of all the times you've experienced this negative emotion what resource state would allow you to feel normal? Replace the negative emotion with a positive emotion. " emotion explosion"
(16) Anchor ( By pressing your thumb and finger together)
(17) Give the positive state a color and spread it through your body, slowly up and down. Now give the state a sound, remember the sound.
(18) Break State (Look around the room)
(19) Now step back on your timeline (in the middle at the Present). Step to the left and Re observe your negative states. Look for the symbols, the pictures, the colors and sound.
(20) Trigger your anchor by squeezing your thumb and finger together. Re- experience the pictures, the symbols, the colors the sound. Look for the symbols, the pictures, the colors and sound and remember them as a mist permeating the entire time line.
(21) Break State
This exercise works like magic. By using the time line you can make your negative thoughts become positive and more pleasant. You can change your way of thinking and you can program future events.
Never make important decisions when you are feeling down and out or when you simply feel bad. Most likely you will make bad decisions if you make them while you are in a negative state of mind. This is why most people make bad decisions. For instance, you had a fight with your boss, why not go out and get drunk, your wife is being a bitch, why not go out and commit adultery. If you are feeling good about yourself these are not the decisions you'll make. Of course you could have made decisions that were much worse; you're tired of your bosses crap so you're going to take him off the map, your wife bitches so much, why not shoot her. Feeling Bad, Bad Thinking, Bad Decisions! It is time to change your way of thinking from bad to good.
When you are feeling good it only stands to reason that you make good decisions. That makes sense, don't you think?! Feeling good more often has many more benefits such as, clear thinking, an optimistic outlook, more self esteem, better social interaction and you have more fun.
Now I'm going to teach you a technique that allows you to program good thoughts into your mind so that good feeling will come spontaneously.
In this technique we will use the timeline again and program good feelings into the future.
Go to your special room and put yourself in the present on the timeline.
Past________________ Present_______________Future
(1) Now I want you to pick a resource state that you want to experience in the future. Example; fun, joy, happiness, optimism, faith, pleasure, etc.
(2) Remember the special time you experienced this resource state. Relax and relive the memory. Get those special feelings back.
(3) Anchor your feelings with you thumb and your finger ( If you wish you can go back to step two and stake another resource state. - Example; Faith + Pleasure
(4) Now give this state a color. Spread the color through out your body. Give this state a sound. Amplify , Louder and louder. Remember the sound.
(5) BREAK STATE
(6) Think of three events in the future where it would be appropriate to feel this state. ANCHOR
(7) Notice where they are on the time line. You may see pictures or symbols or just know that they are there on the timeline.
(8) Once you are there you can allow your subconscious to symbolize other appropriate events in the future. Trust your subconscious with this. GO a year beyond your third special event.
(9) Now turn around with the anchors still triggered and see the color as a magical mist permeating all of your time line. Make some wonderful positive changes.
(10) Walk up the time line to the year beyond the third special event,
(11) Now turn around with the anchors still triggered and see the color as a magical mist permeating all of your time line. Make some wonderful positive changes.
(12) Visualize a great future! BREAK STATE.
Reminiscing
Reminiscing is another tool that I use quite often. I like to do it in the middle of the night when I'm all alone at my computer. It has brought me strength and renewed the goals I once had. It has helped me tremendously and I know it can help you. Set aside a time when you feel at ease (At least once a week). If it does nothing else it will bring you countless hours of peace, relaxation, and joy.
Reminiscence refers to recollections of memories from the past. It is familiar to us all and can be utilized for the benefit of others. For people who are afflicted with the disease of substance abuse encouraging the act of reminiscence can be highly beneficial to their inner self and their interpersonal skills. Reminiscence involves exchanging memories with the old and young, friends and relatives, with caregivers and professionals, passing on information, wisdom and skills. It is about giving the person in need a sense of value, importance, belonging, power and peace. We all use it to cope in times of stress, such as mourning, it can also help reduce injury to our self image and it can create a feeling of intimacy and give special meaning to contact time with others.
As I mentioned somewhere back in the contents of this chapter I love to write poetry and short stories. I'm encouraged by events of the past, these special events are brought to me when I reminisce. I love the magic of words and they give me a sense of power when I write. However through reminiscence you establishing identity with or without words and it's a good example of how we have to adapt, giving a valuable opportunity to acquire and use new skills of communication.
I can better explain how reminiscence works through the words of one of my poems;
As I sit here alone staring down at my keyboard
searching my mind for those magical words.
I look at the past and reminisce about all the good
things and good times that I've had.
I remember the time when the best was all mine.
My future was set and my goals were defined,
And everything was all going my way.. Everything
that I had seemed solid. .Every thing in my life seemed
so pure. I stare at my monitor and watch all of the
yesteryears fly bye. I look over at my printer and ask
myself why. Why oh why did these things pass me bye..
I miss my sweet spouse and the kids running round the
house. I miss my Blue Spruce and the yard that I groomed.
I miss the Bar B Q that I built and the family parties we had.
I miss it all, and my heart fills with tears as I think of
those years and the wonderful life I once had.
Then I say to myself "STOP" your life's not over yet,
make the best of what you have left. You've got friends
galore and so many things to be thankful for. Your wiser
now so share what you know and give help to those
full of need. Show love and compassion to all of your
friends and to all others as well. Let your heart swell with
joy and get rid of those tears. There's no room in your life
to feel sorry for yourself and the best in life is still yours. So
even though you felt lost now you've been found and it's
time to set yourself free.
"If it's gonna be it's all up to me and that's the way it has to be."
If you've read and absorbed what I've written I want you to know that I wrote it just for people like you, with a true desire to find relief (and find it the right way) and be reborn. I know for a fact by your reading this far you are well on your way to Absolute and Total Recovery. Strengthen your conviction and stay on the path that will take you where you want to be.
A Moment of Mine
Recollections from the Past
My Grandmother used to sing a song to me . . . It went something like this; . . . A story I'm going to tell of a women old and gray . . . Walking the streets in the cold and the sleets at the end of a winters day. Quite weary she sank in a chair in front of a building grand . . . when a youth inside with over bearing pride came and ordered her away from there. Next door there stood a newsboy who owned a little stand . . . He saw the poor old lady ordered from the building grand . . . He ran inside his humble store as if in childish glee . . . He brought a chair from out the place with a smile upon his face . . . As these kind words he said; ...Take a seat old lady for you are welcome here . . . You'll find it here and waiting when you pass this way . . . In silence she sat for awhile . . . poor soul she could scarcely speak . . . At last she arose and said with lips that were trembling blue . . . I'll remember you lad once I had a boy like you . . .Well, three years have come and gone since then . . .the same old place we see. . . the boy received a letter wondering from whom it could be . . . She had died without a kin , . . Left her millions all to him . . . Through these kind words he said . . . Take a seat old lady for you are welcome here . . . you'll find it here and welcome when you pass this way.
It's really something, the things you remember when reminiscing in the middle of your night My grandmother used to sing a lot of songs like this and they all seem to have so much meaning. These are things that I haven't thought about in well over 50 years. Yet I can hear them now as if she were here in person singing to me. Listen here's another one...Once there was a Dutchman who invented a terrible machine. It ground long tail rats and pussycats into sausages and things... Oh Mr. Dundenbeck how could you be so mean...For long tail rats and pussy cats nare more will be seen...Their grounded into sausages on that terrible machine. Now something got the matter with the machine it wouldn't work... So Dundenbeck got inside to see what he could do...His wife she had a night mare was walking in her sleep... She gave the crank one hell of a yank now Dundenbeck is meat. That's probably not exactly how it went but isn't it funny how things come back in the middle of the night.
Times when I'm all alone when all the work is done. These are the times when I reminisce bringing back sweet memories of days gone bye. The mind is the key to the vehicle that travels the roads and byways of time. All these journeys and their detours that couldn't be avoided come back in flashes. My mind takes me places that I had forgotten exist. The mystery is how the mind covers the hurts, disappointments, tragedies and heartbreaks with shadows so they vaguely appear. It seems like when I reminisce it's of goodness and cheer and hardly ever of the bad things that bring up a tear.
Where am I going with this? I really don't know. When I reminisce my mind rambles from here to there. I pick up bits and pieces of memories that are scattered all over my past. I sit at my keyboard typing things down at a steady rhythm not stopping until I'm through Times like this I come up with the thoughts and ideas of all that I write.. So what you're getting now is just mental jabber that may or may not lead some place. Believe it or not my best ideas come from moments like this.
This is something that I normally wouldn't put into print but I thought it would be fun to show you how my mind really works. My thoughts and ideas are stimulated and motivated by past experiences brought back in memory while reminiscing. I can touch, smell, and taste all the memories I embrace Everything comes back to me so vividly that it's like reliving each magic moment. For instance, I can remember when I was just a young lad I had a goat named Billy who use to pull me around in a little red wagon. Then there was my first real love, a little red headed girl with all kinds of freckles, her name was Joy Jarmen. Each one of theses memories were simple and insignificant but they had a multitude of happy experiences attached to them. I could write a story about me and my Billy goat and another about my first attraction to the opposite sex.
It's so wonderful, specially if you're lonely at times, to relive the happy and what was to you the exciting memories of your past. There's a story in each one of the experiences that you've had and literally hundreds unfold to you as you reminisce in the past. It's said that when you're about to die your whole life flashes through your mind in an instant. It's remarkable how your mind can think about so many things all at the same time. Memories are all the treasures stored in your mind the parable being a library with thousands of books each one being a different event of your life. Can you just imagine if you were the author of all these books how many books you would have written. Just think? All the wild adventures, the special events, the love stories, the mysteries, and the tragedies that would have all been written by you and stored in your own library. Mind boggling isn't it? All of this . . . when you reminisce.
