I wonder if you’re curious how enjoyable it can be to look inside of yourself and see a different side of yourself or perhaps you can see yourself from the outside as you go into a theatre and watch an entrancing story becoming deeply enchanted and wishing it will never end or perhaps you love to go deeply, into the natural habitat of wild animals and feel transported by the clouds and the natural landscape and the natural rhythm and melodies and beautiful pitch and tone of the sounds of nature that you can hear can be more beautiful, comforting and healing than any music you have ever heard and perhaps you can take great delight in following the contours around you and your own abilities to find a natural watering hole at dusk perhaps climb a tree and watch the birds and animals drinking by the shimmering water or smell the scent of natural wildflowers and wonder how all this beauty came to be or perhaps on reflection you can be deeply comforted transformed by the memory of a special conversation a long time ago that changed the direction of someone’s life like a leaf floating gently in the breeze and as you continue to reflect on that perhaps you can feel as one with the shimmering water or the leaf that you can see tumbling and floating gently through the warm air and softly touching down as if in slow motion on the cool, shimmering water coming to rest in a natural comfortable position and isn’t it wonderful how that beautiful leaf can be so comfortable allowing itself to go into whatever time or place that mother nature can choose to be transported to an enchanting new place and perhaps you can become enchanted by the beauty and elegance of a simple leaf or the incredible complexity of it’s inner functionings that that leaf can allow to happen without any conscious effort or it’s simple and at the same time wonderful and natural lifestyle that you can admire and accept beyond reason how a beautiful leaf can change colors with the seasons wear a natural layer of protection be in harmony with those around it accept warmth and nutrients from the sun the air the earth and the environment and transferred from other parts of it’s own embodiment or from what it is a part of and if some part of that beautiful leaf reminds you of yourself or some part of you you may be curious what you can learn as you watch it floating so comfortably on the cool water or you may be curious about how the warm breeze can feel as it cradles you in it’s gentle touch lifting your spirits as high as you like and for as long as you like like an enchanting story that you wish will never end, and then, lowering you as gently as a leaf floating comfortably on cool shimmering water for as long as you like and because as a child you can climb a tree you can imagine that you can fly like a bird or do anything you like and from this bird’s eye view if you were a bird I wonder if you can sense the warmth of the sun warming the outer layers of your skin and then permeating slowly into, and through every pore of your body and mind envigorating you and perhaps you can feel the wonderful fresh air in your lungs percolating through your body and your mind healing you as you are where you are meant to be doing what you are meant to do1 and now1 it may seem like a previous life1 when perhaps you were curious1 if you were a little boy1 or girl1 you can possibly remember1 a parent or someone older1 telling you which one you were1 or is that are1 you possibly think1 well, that’s something worth remembering1 and if you could know1 as this little child1 the incredible number of things you can1 and will learn1 far too many things1 to remember1 all at once1 how to read1 or write1 or think1 or react1 millions and millions1 of memories1 and emotions to be stored away1 for future reference1 somewhere1 and accessed1 and utilized1 as required1 for handling challenges1 some of which1 have not even been invented yet1 to help you make decisions1 and it’s interesting1 is it not1 how so far you’ve made decisions based on perceptions1 not statistics1 and if it didn’t feel right1 you tended not to do it1 and if you had an impulse1 or urge1 to do something irrational1 or illogical1 that’s what often got done1 and then you worked out how to justify it later1 and perhaps you have wondered1 what’s the point of the logical and sound advice1 that the experts1 or even your own experience gives you1 when you were just going to do1 what you wanted to anyway1 I mean1 who really wants to get out of their comfort zone?1 and if this all makes good logical sense1 you may be curious1 whether you are accessing the best sort of advice and memories1 that can help you get1 to wherever it is you want to go,1 the place where your irrational1 and very real emotions1 are stopping you from getting to1 and perhaps it is logical1 to use an illogical1 and emotional approach1 to convince yourself to actually act1 actually do1 what you need to do1 to get you to1 where you really want to go1 now that reminds me of a story1 of a very successful businesswoman1 who had been getting counseling for 10 years1 to deal with obsessive feelings of betrayal and rejection1 after suddenly remembering an1 early childhood abuse incident1 revivifying the pain1 and logical explanations of why she should get over it1 were not working1 so she switched counselors1 she only needed one session1 when the new counselor asked1 what do you love doing1 where you have all the skills you need1 to solve absolutely any problem you see?1 she replied1 that’s easy,1 when I’m at work1 I can do anything1 I have absolute self confidence and self control,1 I’m on an emotional high1 and there’s nothing that can’t be done!1 This lady described how,1 when she was at work,1 the useful parts of1 early experiences were easily remembered,1 whereas associated useless unpleasant memories1 or emotions1 were easily separated1 and forgotten1 and that reminds me of another lady,1 retired in her eighties,1 who was suffering from severe chronic muscle spasm1 possibly triggered by arthritis1 she complained long and bitterly about her pain1 and had been unable to engage in her favorite pastime for years1 dancing1 when she was dancing she was in heaven1 and absolutely nothing in this world could bother her1 and when she suddenly realized the possibilities of this1 she had a new strategy1 if she suspected a spasm attack coming on1 just think about dancing1 of course1 different things work for different people1 and the great psychiatrist Milton Erickson1 used hundreds of ideas1 to help people1 get into a state of mind1 where they were very comfortable1 before suggesting to them1 that they could achieve their goals1 using the skills1 that they already had1 one interesting example1 was a woman suffering from bulimia1 this woman was very fashion conscious1 and when she was dressed up1 she felt very special1 so Dr Erickson suggested to her1 that whenever she thought it would be useful1 perhaps before meals1 or any other time she liked1 she put on her favorite red shoes1 that reminds me1 of a 9 year old boy with severe social anxiety1 and diagnosed1 with selective mutism1 who would not speak1 or make any sounds outside his home1 until his mother1 enrolled him in martial art classes1 he couldn’t join a normal class1 so he had private lessons at a club1 he was so excited1 he forgot himself1 and started making grunting noises as he punched the bag1 isn’t confidence a wonderful thing?1 and because they are yours1 whenever you need to1 whenever it’s useful2 you can be aware2 of your most useful memories2 and stories2 and you can access your solutions2 and you can access2 your most useful solutions2 anytime2 you choose to2 and perhaps you can be curious2 where the useful stories in your history are2 whether they are filed away2 under the headings of confidence2 or comfort2 or self control2 or something else2 like perhaps2 things I absolutely love to do2 or possibly2 under a very positive and useful emotion2 and because they are yours2 you can access those stories2 allowing you to actually do2 whatever it is2 you want to do2 as you slowly2 change your focus2 and become more and more2 comfortably aware2 of your surroundings