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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
I eventually learned how to drive an automatic transmission vehicle.
That was the kind of cars my parents had (my subconscious known) and I didn’t
have a pressing need to learn stick shift. In fact, I was one of the few if
only sixteen-year-olds who didn’t really want to drive the second I got my
driver’s license. If I had a horse when I was a teenager I might have been more
motivated, but that’s another story.
However, in 1997 I decided I wanted (needed) to learn how to drive stick
shift. I was living and working in Hull, England, at the time. My work contract
and work visa would expire at the beginning of December, and several jobs I
considered applying for required the new hire to have a car and be able to
drive to various venues. At that time, virtually every vehicle on the road was “manual
transmission,” so I didn’t really have any option but to drive what was
available. As I recall, as it seemed to be more expensive to have an automatic
car in England at that time; driving lessons in an automatic would also cost
more. So not only would I have to learn how to drive on the opposite side of
the road to what I was used to in the United States, but also to use a clutch
pedal and the gear stick.
To my surprise, though, I liked it.
The instructor was very patient with me, despite the number of times I
stalled the vehicle. At the very beginning of the lesson, he told me about “the
bite,” that moment when the clutch is engaged just so and the driver shifts the
car into the correct gear while depressing the accelerator (or something like
that). He said that when this is done correctly, with perfect timing, you
should feel and hear the car easily slide into the gear and smoothly move
forward. No stuttering or sputtering of the engine, no jerking movement of the car
as the engine gasps for air before stalling out. Smooooooth. I grinned from ear
to ear the first time I felt that bite, and promptly stalled the engine. But, I
did it; and the metaphoric significance of the term “bite” continues to
resonate with me.
I returned to the United States a few months later. I eventually got a
job working as a proofreader and then managing editor at Black Belt® magazine. In 2005, I
completed my hypnotherapy training at the Hypnosis
Motivation Institute and opened hypnotherapy practice, Calminsense Hypnotherapy®. I no longer drive stick-shift—it is actually
more expensive to buy a manual transmission vehicle here—but the concept of
feeling or listening for “the bite” plays a big part in my day. It is the
metaphoric exhale of a relaxed breath that my clients take as they drift into
hypnosis. It is the optimism I feel about the success of my hypnotherapy
practice when I pick up the phone to answer someone’s questions about hypnosis
and whether hypnotherapy really works. (It does.) It is the excitement and
pride I feel for a client when the person achieves his or her self-improvement
goal, glowing with pride and renewed self-confidence at this accomplishment. It
is the sense of calm and joy I experience when I first climb onto my horse’s
back, as we transition smoothly between his gaits or amble down the street on
an impromptu hack.
For me, ultimately, “the bite” represents achievement, success,
accomplishment. I know that if I ever absolutely needed to, I could probably
still drive stick-shift without stalling the engine too many times. To this
day, I still always listen and feel for that moment when my car automatically
shifts gears. It makes me happy that I can tell when that happens and even feel
bad for the car when the engine seems to be straining too hard going up a hill.
Most of all, I enjoy hearing and feeling the bite when, if only for a moment,
most things in my and my clients’ lives are comfortable and smooth.
Have you felt your “bite” today?
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® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2016
