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A TASTE OF ENCHANTMENT: JULY 2001 SPECIAL EDITION    

"Achieving Positive States of Mind and Body Again and Again"    

Produced by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein , Psychologist, Life Coach, and Originator of THE ENCHANTED SELF(R)    

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Welcome to the mid-month publication of The Enchanted Self's e-newsletter!  Each month I will focus on (and respond to) a question about enchantment and/or a reader's ideas on enchantment.

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Question of the Month

"My days seem mundane and I am not happy.  I am surrounded by negativity.  How can I turn my life around?"

Answer

THE THREE R'S are: Remembering the Best, Restoring Yourself, and Rapture. The following article is the last in this series, and focuses on rapture.

RECIPE FOR ENCHANTMENT Part 3 - THE THREE R's: Remembering the Best, Restoring Yourself, Rapture

By Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

This is the third article for the series RECIPES FOR ENCHANTMENT - THE THREE R'S.  Remembering the best, Restoring yourself, and Rapture.  This week we are going to be talking about the third "R", which is the wonderful concept that I like to call RAPTURE.

Rapture is a strong, full word that incorporates a capacity for joy that affects us in our own mind, body and spirit. It is a feeling of being in harmony in a euphoric or an ecstatic way with others or the universe at large. Obviously, we don't go around in a state of rapture all the time.  To experience even states of well being on a regular basis involves tremendous daily practice. Yet, if we work and we perspire, mentally, emotionally, socially we will be rewarded. How? For one thing, the positive actions we take in our lives are pleasing to us and good for us.

In my new book RECIPES FOR ENCHANTMENT, The Secret Ingredient is YOU!, I talk about so many occasions when people took positive actions and then had the pleasant rewarding experience of positive feelings. These positive feelings varied from person to person yet included the whole spectrum of well being, including joyousness, contentment, satisfaction, pleasure and on occasion, rapture.

In my book I share a reverie that I had one night. I imagined all of my friends and loved ones and then strangers from around the world coming together in big circles dancing in the moonlight. We danced until dawn in my reverie. There was a sense of euphoria that built leading to me to experiencing great joy and even rapture as I indulged in my visualization.  I share this one with you because it points out that positive actions can take the form of positive thoughts! Often we dismiss our inner life.  I think it's important to document that our inner life is a very real place where we practice many of the states of well being that ultimately take shape through expression in the real world.

Although I have not danced through the night in the moonlight with hundreds of thousands of people, the feelings I had in that reverie certainly translate into many of the positive actions that I take in sharing THE ENCHANTED SELF message. As a matter of fact, without my inner life, I doubt there would be the energy to bring these teachings to others.

Yes, obviously in this discussion we are moving toward the spiritual. Ultimately, the positive energies that we have to give the world require mind, body and spirit.  And so you see that enchantment is all about putting the meat in your soul's soup. It is about the muscle that goes with living a life of joy. Perspiration, daily practice, and daily routines that enhance the possibilities of living a life of enchantment, are all of hard work.

Just remember though, before you get discouraged, it is even harder to live a miserable life. We pay for misery in so many ways. We pay for it in feeling fatigued and feeling that we don't have real purpose.  We feel inside that there's a hole in our hearts or that we have missed the boat. We can feel aggravated, tense, fed up. We can feel that the future will be as miserable as the past. We can feel that we are ordinary rather than extraordinary. We can pay for a negative attitude with more physical and emotional illness so that the perspiration pours off of us in a different way.

I think it's smarter, since life is a struggle and designed so that we work at whatever we're doing, that we practice enchantment and enjoy the perspiration and inspiration that goes with the practice.  So promise yourself to take the JOYRIDE OF YOUR LIFE!

This concludes the series on REMEMBERING THE BEST, RESTORING YOURSELF AND RAPTURE.  Until next month ... live your life of enchantment!

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Please give us the pleasure of sharing your responses.  They may be posted on the web site or in future issues of the newsletter.  You can also chat about this topic or create your own in The Enchanted Self e-group at the following URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/encself

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ANNOUNCEMENT: UPCOMING TELECLASSES FOR JUNE

I will be offering two free sessions on "Creating Your Own RECIPE FOR ENCHANTMENT".  Anyone interested should read a copy of my book, RECIPES FOR ENCHANTMENT, The Secret Ingredient is YOU! which you can request from your local library, or order through www.amazon.com, www.1stbooks.com, or my own web site or your local bookstore.  If you are interested in this free opportunity please send your name to Rebecca Trelfa at rebecca@enchantedself.com.  She will be gathering names of those interested.  Once we have enough people we will be announcing class, dates, times, and details.   

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FORWARDING & REPRINTING

(C) 2001 Copyright The Enchanted Self - All rights reserved.

Please feel free to pass this issue on to someone who might enjoy it.  The Enchanted Self Newsletter is copyrighted but may be quoted, reprinted, or distributed in whole or part without prior permission, provided the content is not changed and attribution is given including:

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

THE ENCHANTED SELF(R)

We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as self-healing and professional psychology newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission and send us a sample issue.

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To learn more about THE ENCHANTED SELF(R) - A State of Well Being, Joy, and Happiness, please contact me or visit my web site.

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