|
Spring Into Enchantment (continued)
by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
The last component is recognizing what really does
give you pleasure. You may love walking on the beach, your bare feet
touching the sand, still cool in the spring. You may enjoy going to a
local county park when temperatures start rising. Someone else may
prefer to engage in a more active social life in the spring and
perhaps does not care about being outdoors. The spring may stimulate a
yearning to have friends visit, or go to the local fine restaurants
and experience different types of foods. Enchantment requires a self
knowledge that only each person must know for himself or herself.
And don t forget your memory banks, your wonderful
treasure chests. As you begin to spring into enchantment, it is in
these memory chests that you will recognize your special interests and
preferences. Your positive memories can help you frame out what you
would like to do this season.
Here is an exercise to get you started:
Close your eyes and let your mind wander back to
something that you loved to do as a child in the spring. Did you like
to climb trees? Did you like to ride a bike? Go fishing? Run? Catch
lightning bugs at night? Think about the way your body felt as you did
this activity. Did you feel excited? Did you feel particularly alive
and alert? Did you feel relaxed? Think about how you felt when the
activity was over. Were you exhausted? Were you revitalized? Were you
hungry? Now list some of the skills that were necessary to perform
that activity. For example, if you used to love to climb trees, some
of the skills might have been agility or arm strength to lift yourself
onto branches. Another skill was probably good balance. Do you still
have these skills? If so, what would you like to try at this stage of
your life that might let you get back in touch with the physical
pleasures that you were so naturally in touch with as a child? Perhaps
dancing or lifting weights or rock climbing? Whatever your physical
pleasure may have been, lift it out, dust it off, and use it. And most
important, enjoy!
If you do not have these skills, what are some
alternatives? Perhaps rather than tree climbing you could stretch in
all directions, lying on a mat or on a soft carpet. This will require
much less in the way of balance or risk-taking. Perhaps you would
enjoy a risk-taking adventure via a book, movie or a computer game.
Reinvention of yourself in order to experience pleasure is a never
ending pursuit.
How do we finally begin to generate a world of
enchantment? It is very simple. If you are leading an enchanted life
you will quickly see that you send out positive energies and positive
messages. Before you know it, there is a mutuality of shared
enchantment going on. Laughter is infectious, good moods are catching,
and like the birds singing, all of these happy reflections of harmony
are resonated again and again as they move out in ever expanding
circles. We hope you will take some time to spring into enchantment
and to let yourself move from feeling enchanted to being truly
enchanting.
1
| 2
|
