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Produced by Dr. Barbara Becker
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Welcome to the monthly publication of The Enchanted Self's e-newsletter! The following is what you will find in this month's issue.
Into your mysterious Halloween cauldron place the following ingredients:
Now take a long wooden spoon, put on your special magic Halloween costume and stir like crazy -- (translation: do some brainstorming about how YOU with YOUR talents and capacities can take the essence of past positive times, combine them with new opportunities and bring them to life).
Finally, let your brew simmer and stir occasionally. Taste and continue to flavor your brew until it is ready to serve! (translation: keep brainstorming on and off the next month or so. Feel free to fine tune this new opportunity that YOU are allowing YOURSELF to create.)
By Dr. Barbara Becker
I share this story with you as it is a good example of how in our own memory banks, we can find the basic qualities of joy and fulfillment that we need to bring positive solutions and pleasures into our lives each and every day.
I once took a fabulous vacation to
"It was about a black cat. Yes it was a black cat that helped me find myself again. When my husband died young, I was very upset. I took a job teaching. The job didn't work out well and I felt very down. My world was falling apart. I knew I needed some way to hold onto the good parts of myself, but how?"
"Then it came to me--I wanted a black cat, just like the black cat I had in childhood. So many of my childhood memories were happy and so many were associated with this wonderful black cat, Duke, who we had for 20 years. A friend found a black kitten for me. She brought it over and as I held it, I knew that it was love at first sight! From that day forward, I felt that my life was good again. I found myself again. I felt more sure of myself. So what if one school system didn't work out? I knew that I was a good teacher! I'd find another."
I asked, "How could a black cat have made such a difference?"
She said, "You see, Duke was a part of the family. When we went to the country every summer, he had a friend -- a skunk -- who came looking for him and they would go off playing for hours. The skunk never sprayed him! He loved the country."
"One day we were going home and the windows were open. We came to a small parade. Suddenly Duke jumped out of the car and disappeared. We were heartsick. After hours of looking, my Dad said, 'Let's go back to the summer house so we can start out really early tomorrow morning looking for Duke.' We drove twenty miles back to the house. As we approached, there was Duke, sitting on the front porch looking at the door. He had walked the twenty miles while we had looked for him. He knew where he was going!"
"So, that's the story of Duke.
I guess I had to find that hook from my past to get myself back.
I didn't think a lot of people would understand how a cat helped me that
much but now having read your newsletter, I wanted to share this with you.
My new cat is named Tywaket. That's
the name of the cat in
I was very moved by this woman's story of her cat. Indeed, the positive hooks in our childhood are extremely important, not only for recovering positive states of well being, but for giving us a sense of self esteem and self purpose. They almost serve as magical links to a personal integrity and self-knowledge that intuitively we have as children. However, this wisdom constantly gets pushed down and covered over by negative effects of many things that happen to us.
Let's all look for positive hooks in our childhood!
Please go to my Recipe for Enchantment this month and use it as the basis for your enchanted activity.
The mid-month issue of "A Taste of Enchantment" will be delayed until November 19th, as my assistant will be on vacation.
Find out "what's right with you--not what's wrong!" Come chat with other "Enchanted Self-ers" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/encself. Membership is free and you will have access to our on-line calendar, message board, chat room, and more. It's a great way to connect with others who are exploring, creating and sharing their own positive and satisfying lives. See you there!
Share your positive stories and questions
about enchantment with us and other Enchanted Self readers around the globe!
Our mid-month e-zine focuses on YOU and reaches a subscriber list of over
600 people from the
Adapted from Al-anon: "Let's live in the solution rather than the problem."
May you always be prepared for fun, for pleasure and for new solutions! May you always be able to see yourself as a wonderful reservoir of talents, ideas, and new ways of thinking 'out of the box'.
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Have an "enchanting" month.
I wish you all many enchanted moments!
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(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
THE ENCHANTED SELF(R)
I also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as self-healing and professional psychology newsletters. However, I do ask that you contact me beforehand for permission and send 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.
phone: 877-B-JOYFUL
fax: 732-531-1201
e-mail: encself@aol.com
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