Is your past being useful for your future?
 
  Nigel Buxton Update
Is your past being useful in creating your future? September 2005

 
  Dear Nigel,

Do you like going to the movies?

Are you aware that you have a lifetime of movies already archived away? Some have been classified as "C" movies, and never get played, because they are not "interesting". But the "A" movies get played all the time.

The "A" movies are "interesting" because they have a strong emotion attached, and no matter how many times you see (relive) that movie the emotion is just as strong.

It is the same as watching "Casablanca" for the "fortyseventh" time, and watching how the same response comes up every time.

 
 
Do you have your own selection of "A" movies that are always with you?

Maybe you have a movie of when you were told you were, or made to seem, stupid; or, when you could not quite summon up enough courage to overcome the situation; or, when someone let you down and was not there for you when you needed them; or, when you felt totally rejected and unwanted. Maybe the movie is about a little boy/girl getting frightened of something; or, maybe there is a very severe punishment (maybe it was even unjust).

You may run your old movies with new actors and new locations, but the story remains the same. And, you, the lead actor, continue with the same performance.

Are there ways of taking the emotion out of these old stories? Yes, there are ways – yes, plural, I know and use three different methods!

 
 
Unloading the emotional baggage
 
 

You cannot change history, but it can become just an experience which got you where you are today – a stronger and wiser person. Instead of getting identified with the lead actor - falling into the same old script and lost in the emotion of the movie as you always do - you can enjoy the moment as a fresh new experience.

This is what a friend of mine calls unloading the emotional baggage. And it makes you more available for getting on with life: apart from feeling so light without the weight of that "rucksack full of bricks".

Please, I do know that these emotional responses are totally real and overwelming. But it is important for me that everyone knows that it is possible to stop the emotional charge associated with these experiences - - it is quick – it is forever – it is a gentle and painless process. And when you are ready you know that you can give yourself freedom from your emotions.

A final note: I had such a rough time as a boy at the dentist, when I left home and started making my own decisions - I decided not to go to the dentist. Some years later my teeth were disintegrating from the neglect and demanded attention. To my surprise when I finally returned to a dentist I found that the tools and means available to the dentist were totally changed from my boyhood: and the experience at the dentist was totally different from the one I had in my memory. It is so nice to have my teeth in order: and it was not a painful /traumatic experience because the methods used have developed.

Nigel works with people in business who want to do more with less – to make a greater contribution with less effort – to be more themself with less holding them back.

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Kind regards,


nigel
phone: +386-1-420-1524: +386-31-674-924