Have you ever wished for the Publishers Clearing House to come to your door one bright and early morning? Or perhaps you bought a lottery ticket, feeling the anticipation of being sent a substantial check every week for the rest of your life? Although you may not realize it, metaphorically the Publishers Clearing House comes by your door every morning, and every day you have the winning lottery ticket. How is this possible? Well, within you there already exists a treasure chest. It is filled with the priceless jewels of your own positive memories and your capacities to achieve positive states of being.
Don't be afraid to open up that treasure chest and peek inside. Ah! What is that first jewel, that shiny object that resembles a beautiful sparkling sapphire? That jewel represents something positive that happened to you. What was it? Was it those few minutes you sat on the porch and watched the sun's rays shining through the trees? Or was it when a friend called and invited you to come over -- perhaps the friend that you had meant to call many months ago but didn't call? Or was it nothing in particular other than all the breaths of air that you inhaled and exhaled, the heart beats that continue to support the being that is you?
You'll have to decide what that sapphire really is, as well as the diamond and the ruby and all those beautiful pearls. Each one belongs to you and each one is a positive memory that you can tap into again and again.
Down in that treasure chest also lurks some of your lost potential from childhood, the things you could have done; the ways you could have developed if only things had been different. Those are the ones that need to be rubbed and polished. They look dingy in the bottom of the treasure chest. Take them out and buff them with a cloth. Then you can begin to see how you can reinvent yourself. It may be too late to become an Olympic Athlete or a movie star or even the President of the United States, but it isn't too late to get that body in shape, lift some weights or ride a bicycle. It's not too late to get active in local politics or to join a theatrical group, or rent fine old movies.
Maybe you will have to hold up some of those jewels to the light and look at them from different angles. Finding what is precious about ourselves takes time and effort. We don't always see at first glance how we can reintegrate and develop our strengths, talents, and lost potential into a person who is able to achieve positive states of being again and again.
Recognizing that your own treasure chest of positive memories and capacities are more precious to you than any winnings is what THE ENCHANTED SELF is all about. When we begin to acknowledge that we ourselves are our own messengers of enchantment, then we can begin to brighten our lives and the lives around us.
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein is the originator of The Enchanted Self. She has been a positive psychologist in private practice and licensed in the states of New Jersey and Massachusetts since 1981. Her book, The Enchanted Self, A Positive Therapy, was published in 1997 by Harwood Academic Publishers and is now in its second printing. She has just published her second book on the concept of enchantment: Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is YOU!
Dr. Holstein speaks regularly on radio programs around the country, and appears on television in New York and New Jersey. Her inspiring audio files can be found on the web at Ladybug Live. She also gives lectures, seminars, and retreats on the concepts of enchantment and is currently in private practice in Long Branch, New Jersey with her husband, Dr. Russell M. Holstein. You may find more about Dr. Holstein and her work at: http://www.enchantedself.com