Observations
of Life. Since mid-January, I have noticed that there have been some
small green spikes growing alongside our house where I had planted some bulbs
last fall. I was a little surprised that they were coming up so early. We had
some warm weather this winter, and overall, it has been a mild one.
This morning as I went out to my van I noticed even more green coming through some remains of last year’s plants. I was still a little surprised to see this since we have been having some days and nights of below freezing temperatures. The ground has had cycles of being frozen hard to being soft and wet. As I took a moment to look around even further, I saw our bird feeder was getting low and examined the ground around it. This time I saw more sprouts coming up. I then noticed that the early spikes I had been seeing were different than these. I knew I planted a lot in the fall, but then remembered I had planted more than just tulips. Obviously, each plant has its own timeline on when it is going to come up, some earlier than others.
I am sure many of you reading this know more about flower gardening than I do. And I do know flowers come up in the spring and that they must begin some of their growth during the late weeks of winter. But, as I said before in a previous newsletter (November 2007), it has only been in the last few years that I have had any interest in flower gardening. It is not because I didn’t appreciate flowers or flower gardening before, but it was just not a major priority in my life. And now that I do take just a little time in working in the garden, I do some reading on some of the different aspects of it. In doing this elementary study of flower gardening I understand better how much more there is to learn. I will take time occasionally to read and study more as time permits and may even purchase a book or two to add to my library. But at the same time in saying this, it would be safe to say that this will not become my life’s passion. I like flowers and I enjoy doing most of what is involved with digging, planting, feeding, weeding and general care to a point. I do not have a large area of flowers and only expand it a little each year. I don’t plan any major "over the top" projects. It is just something I enjoy within limits. Any more at this time would take the fun and joy out of it. I do not know how much my interest will change in the future, but for now, this is just right.
Another obvious interest of mine is writing. That interest shows itself in the fact that this newsletter exists and that I have, with the tremendous help of Patti, written two books. They were published, as I like to say, by a small but real publisher. They were how-to books based on my work as a private detective. It was about two weeks ago I received a letter from my publisher that now the second of the two books is also going out of print. The first one ceased printing about three years ago. I thought for a moment when I got the letter and felt good that they were in print and available for as long as they were. Over the years, both books gave us opportunities to travel to promote and sell them. They opened doors for me to be on nationwide television and radio stations in the US and Canada. But, like plants, those "seeds" of work have gone through their life cycle. I must look to the work that I have done and continue to do to have new blooms in my life.
As a consulting hypnotist, I write this newsletter. I am sowing new seeds in this writing project now. We look to the future and look for how we can grow new gardens in our lives by planting new things now. I speak with other hypnotists and almost all tell me that they face the problem of people not truly understanding what hypnosis is. They all say that where they are is too conservative or there is a religious bias against it. Just last night at a business event I met a person, who though educated, had an almost medieval opinion of hypnosis and hypnotists. With great patience I took just a few minutes, in a very non-confrontational way to explain the myths and misconceptions about hypnosis. (Check out our website at www.willardhypnosis.com and look for our FAQ page.) This is a major seed that needs to be planted all over. Hopefully when and if we meet again, that seed planted in this woman will have taken hold and will germinate, blossoming into a true understanding of the hidden potential of the human mind.
I really enjoy springtime and eagerly await it. With this time of the year and even though the weather changes daily, if not by the hour, I will probably take a moment every day to try to see how things are progressing with our flowers. There is a satisfaction and joy in seeing this process work and the results brought by the work that was done before.
We planted seeds in our daughters. OK, metaphorically, planted seeds in them. These seeds were love, values, faith and much more. We nurtured and fertilized those seeds with both words and deeds of love. When we saw that some weeds were trying to take root also, we did some weeding with discipline and other tough acts of love. Eventually, they both became wonderful adults, who within each have bouquets which are part of the flower garden of our lives. And just as wonderful, our oldest now has begun to plan her own garden by giving us grandchildren. Our garden grows.
But more seeds must be planted in our lives. The growing season is year round and some things take longer to bloom than others. Some seeds I plant will continue to be in serving others as a consulting hypnotist. Other seeds will be planted in our work for our church. Other seeds will be with family and friends. And naturally some more will be planted just for our enjoyment. Some will be perennials while others will be annuals. That is some flowers will blossom over and over through the years with minimum maintenance while others will require us to plant new seeds, too and do new works.
Even though the flower gardens along our house are not very big and growing slowly, the flower garden in our lives is one that goes on and on. Even with life’s ups and downs, misfortunes, pain and sorrows, we have a wonderful garden. The wonderful thing about having this flower garden, anyone can have one just as beautiful with commitment to it.
Like I said, I wrote about flowers this past November in this newsletter and some of this may seem redundant, but I feel it is worth repeating. Flowers need to be watered over and over depending on how they are planted. Our minds sometimes have to be replenished over and over with refreshment to grow. I hope you enjoyed this visit to our garden of the mind this month and enjoy the rest of this newsletter.
Did you know
that past issues of ENLIGHTENMENT are available online at our website? You can download them by going to www.willardhypnosis.com and clicking on the ARCHIVE link and picking the ones you want. They are in Adobe PDF format for easy printing. You must have the Adobe reader to do this.
Books We Liked.
Do you like the circus? Have you ever wanted to be a ringmaster? Do
clowns scare you or make you laugh? If you’re a business owner, have you ever
said to yourself, "This place is a circus"? Well, Phineas Taylor Barnum, better
known as just P.T. Barnum, of the "Greatest Show on Earth" fame is the subject
of Joe Vitale’s book, THERE’S A CUSTOMER BORN EVERY MINUTE. I
first met the author at the hypnotist’s convention when they were being held in
Nassua, NH. I had the opportunity to talk to him at his display of books and
other material he had there. I found him sincere in his work and desire to help
others by sharing his knowledge of business and motivation. He is a prolific
writer and I can only imagine how much time he spends at the keyboard
considering how much he puts out.
The book is a fascinating look at the life of P.T. Barnum and how Barnum’s style of showmanship can be applicable in every business. Joe’s affection and respect comes through on each page as he educates and entertains the reader to understanding Barnum’s marketing and promotional style. You will come out with a new respect for Mr. Barnum’s showmanship and may just find yourself taking control of your circus to become one of the "Greatest (fill in the blank) on Earth".
Quotes we
liked. "To have more, become more." by Jim Rohn,
motivational speaker. I have written before about the value of one’s self is
something that can never be taken away from you. You educate yourself, you
increase your value forever. You take care of yourself in positive ways and you
become a better person. And when you increase the value in yourself first, for
you, others will see that value in you. In turn, you will be able to increase
the other tangible things in your life that you want. And even if what you have
today is taken from you, you still have your internal wealth which can never be
taken. And with that, you can always earn earthly riches. So why not first
invest and continue to invest in yourself, by doing this you will always create
dividends.
What
to expect.
But almost everyone can remember much more and with greater clarity if certain catalysts were provided. A catalyst being something that would be instrumental in opening up one’s memory to either a specific memory or a memory in general. Let me illustrate this for you with a scenario. In general, most people have a reasonable sense of smell. If I was to bring in freshly baked bread, or cookies or other baked items you enjoyed as a small child, your mind would probably instantly recall memories of those times. You may see that special someone you associate with those treats. You may even for an instant see his or her face, the kitchen he or she came from and the glass of milk you would share. In a flash, it would all come back to you. At the same time the emotions you felt for that person would fill you also. You just had an induced memory enhancement.
Enhanced memory is one of the things that can happen with hypnosis. In the scenario above, your sense of smell began a process of making connections to your past by opening the doorway to your subconscious mind and continuation toward making connections to these memories. For an instant the doorway was open and you were allowed to recall memories long ago in your past. With hypnosis, that doorway is open to examine and if necessary, allows you to recall memories important to you for whatever reason. They can be for your curiosity or to discover events in your past that may help you resolve issues and problems in your life now.
Sometimes we think we know what events in our life which cause us to act a certain way, to have problems or not be able to make changes in our life that we want to make. When in reality, it is something else. With hypnosis, a person can go back to the original problem (hypnotists call it the initial sensitizing event or ISE). Once this is done, the client gets to re-examine the circumstances surrounding the event and see it new as the adult he/she is. Then with the hypnotist help in guiding client, that person find resolution to the issues and problem he/she is facing. Sometimes it can happen in just one or two sessions. Sometimes it can take more.
I don’t know how good your memory is, but I am willing to bet it is a lot better than you give yourself credit for. Your subconscious mind and the memories there can help you overcome fears, regain confidence, defeat bad habits, and make positive changes in your life. Use hypnosis to work with your mind to help you become the best you can be.
For more information on hypnosis and how it can help you, call us at 717-872-7561.
We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Enlightenment. The time we spend writing and rewriting it helps to remind us why we do what we do, which is to be in service to others both professionally and personally. By also sharing these observations, ideas, and information, we also learn new things. Please share this newsletter with others who you feel would enjoy and/or benefit from it. If you are receiving this newsletter secondhand and want to receive your own copy, just send us an email and we will put you on either our snail mail list or email list. So until next month, best wishes to all.
Roger & Patti