(This blog was originally posted on May 28, 2014)
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| Photo courtesy of Fotolia |
One
of my grandmothers used to say, “People live everywhere!” She would emphasize the “every,” but not the “where.”
We used to laugh when she said that; the trill in her voice reminded me of the
sensation of being tickled. This expression typically followed her observation
about something that someone did which she had never seen or heard of before.
When I was little, I had no idea what she might have meant by this; of course people live everywhere, I
thought. At the time, I didn’t get that she wasn’t referring solely to
geography. She was including her observations about how similar people were, despite
the differences in their behaviors. In all honesty, I have only recently begun
to truly appreciate what Mama Lil was talking about in the context of my
hypnotherapy practice.
No
matter where you live or what beliefs you hold, you are a product of the social
environment and culture in which you were born and raised. Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John
Kappas, Ph.D. held that we all begin to write our mental script from the moment
we are born. Our subconscious mind categorizes each one of our early
experiences as a positive (pleasure) or negative (pain) “known.” Family,
friends and peers may continue to influence our behaviors to various degrees
during our lifetimes. Each one of us may become more or less open than our
peers to tolerate or accept other belief systems even while, deep down, we will
probably always hold that our way of doing something is “better” than anyone
else’s. (Until proved otherwise, that is.)
No
matter whom you are or where you are from, your beliefs, perceptions and experiences
are valid. They are yours—but, they are also products of your environment and
what you know or have learned. As you live your life, you will have dreams, set
goals and follow a path that you set—a path that is not only made for you, but
one that you (your SCM) designed. Meanwhile, remember that somewhere along the
way, you will encounter or hear about other people that live very near or very
far away, who happen to share similar interests and have similar aspirations. Like
you, they will be more or less amenable to changing their behavior or adopting
a new belief system in relation to their suggestibility and whether their subconscious
mind will accept that new known.
Wherever
you go and whatever you do as you fulfill your life script, you are likely to
meet someone who shares your interests. You are equally likely to discover that
you have absolutely nothing in common with that person. Just remember: you are
still sharing the same planet with other people, even if you don’t live in the
same metaphoric world. When you meet, they may also marvel, “People live everywhere!”
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a
certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with
honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
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