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to the monthly publication of The Enchanted Self's newsletter! The
following is what you will find in this month's
issue.
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Recipe for Enchantment
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Article: Gateway
Four: Replenishment - Truly
Coming Home to Our Enchanted Self
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How to Order
Books, Audio Tapes and more
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E-group:
Connect with others like you!
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Share Your Enchantment!
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Quote of the Month
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Blessing of the Month
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Announcements
Recipe for
Enchantment #36
Gratitude
Let's try to think of a few things for which to be
grateful. No matter how big or small. For example:
The overflowing baskets of dirty laundry.
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Be grateful for the clothes you have.
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Be grateful for washing machines & Laundromats.
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Be grateful for detergents to get them clean and
fresh.
The chicken who daily lays her eggs.
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Be grateful for breakfast: scrambled, fried,
poached, etc ...
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Be grateful for the goodies using eggs: cakes,
cookies, rolls ...
The toothpaste we use daily.
A handy dandy fix-it tool for small holes in
walls.
Okay, now it is your turn to take five minutes to pause and find the cause
to be grateful for this moment! Make your grateful list here if you like!
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*This Recipe for Enchantment was sent to my e-group by a member. To join
the e-group and find lots of delightful discussion and other beautiful
remarks go to the following URL:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/encself/join
Gateway
Four: Replenishment - Truly
Coming Home to Our Enchanted Self
By Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Last time we looked at the second section in Gateway Two:
Falling in Love with Ourselves. If you need to go back and read any
of the previous Gateways, please visit the following page on my web site:
http://www.enchantedself.com/eletterarchives.htm
Replenishment, joy, pleasure and delight are all parts of truly coming
home to our Enchanted Selves. If any gateway is the pivotal gateway for a
woman, it is this gateway. This is the gateway that we must return to
above all others, as frequently as possible. It is where we fuel up, where
we energize. It is where we fill ourselves again so that we can meet the
needs of others, be the caretakers of the world, bring up our children,
spend time with the elderly, and do the hundreds of womanly tasks that we
do, including having a full time job and running a home.
It may seem strange to you at first, but the
smartest way to fill up again once we’ve become depleted is to bring
personal satisfaction and replenishment back into our own lives. This
means really knowing who you are, loving yourself and knowing how to meet
your needs.
If you feel rejuvenated after a great game of
tennis, then that works for you. If you try to fill up by going to a
comedy performance or having a massage, you may remain on empty if it
isn't right for you. Choosing what is right differs from person to person,
so invest some good thought into finding out what is right for yourself.
In THE ENCHANTED SELF: A Positive Therapy, I teach
how to sort through your memories to get to know yourself, so that you can
really tune in on the best forms of replenishment, joy and pleasure for
you. A general rule of thumb is to look for what has felt good in the
past, and try to either duplicate it or find a way to transform the
activity into a form that works for your present stage of life. For
example, a long swim in a lake in childhood might now be light swimming,
walking in the pool at the local “Y,” and a cup of coffee!
Case Vignette
Lisa had been very much a tomboy growing up. Now a mother of five
children, she found herself in a maternal roll literally 24 hours a day.
Often her body ached for climbing trees and for the soccer field.
Lisa shared with me how good she felt and how much
personal replenishment she was able to take from a simple activity that
developed in a nearby friend’s back yard. One of her neighbors had
put up a very large trampoline. All the kids would go out and bounce on
it, having great fun as they jumped up and down on it.
One day Lisa decided to join them. Before she knew
it, she was having the most wonderful time, jumping, bouncing, landing on
her bottom and even doing somersaults as she became more confident. This
was fabulous! She was moving and jumping, using her great sense of balance
and having a wonderful time. Twenty minutes on the trampoline, three
times a week, was as close to paradise as Lisa needed to get to during
this particular stage of motherhood.
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A Positive
Activity for You
Think about some of the things you really loved to do when you were a
child. You may want to jot some of these down on a piece of paper. They
could be activities, hobbies or interests that you had.
Once you have completed your list, take time on
and off during the next few days to think about your list. Use your
imagination to brainstorm how you could either bring back to life some of
your old passions, or refine ways to create new interests that have some
of the same features. For example if you loved to roller-skate as a child,
you may want to try roller-blading, or you may want to take up ballroom
dancing (which may be less risky on the muscles and joints!) Such a
treasure hunt for lost joys is an activity that you can do again and again
as you search through the story of your life for the very unique factors
that can bring you pleasure and rejuvenation again and again.
How to Order Books, Audio Tapes and more
How about some autographed copies of 'Recipes for Enchantment' with a free
copy of The Enchanted Self's paper newsletter and a bookmark? Perhaps you
would be interested my first book, 'The Enchanted Self', which is also
available on audio tape? Here are some ways to order:
Tip: When shopping online use keywords
"recipes for enchantment" and "enchanted self" to locate the books.
E-group: Connect with others like you!
Find out "what's right with you--not what's wrong!" Come chat with other
"Enchanted Self-ers" at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/encself.
Membership is free and you will have access to our on-line calendar,
message board, chat room, and more. It's a great way to connect with
others who are exploring, creating and sharing their own positive and
satisfying lives. See you there!
Share Your Enchantment!
Share your positive stories and questions about enchantment
with us and other Enchanted Self readers around the globe! Our mid-month e-letter
focuses on YOU and reaches a subscriber list of almost 2000 people from the
US, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and many other countries!
Please send stories, comments, and questions to
encself@aol.com.
Inspirational Remarks of the Month
Chofetz Chaim, a wonderful Jewish teacher, told others that he initially
wanted to change the world, but found he couldn't. Then he wanted to
change his family, but he couldn't. Finally he realized that he could only
work on himself! And he did. He spent years studying the negative
effects of gossip and hurtful talk and trained himself not to do any of
it. And do you know what happened? His teaching on this subject spread far
and wide and now he has influenced much of the world! People all over
study his wise words around gossip and practice his approach to speaking
of others in positive ways.
Blessing of the
Month
May you too, start from where you are, find your gifts to
develop and have the pleasure of discovering that many are influenced in
beautiful ways by your song!
Announcements
Free Tele-class
We will soon be announcing another free tele-class on THE SEVEN GATEWAYS
OF ENCHANTMENT. I'd like to get your feedback. What time of the day or
evening would you prefer? Please write to me at
encself@aol.com. Thank you!
Enchanted Purses for Wise, Wonderful Women
These purses are meant to travel around the world with women
who share their wisdom, special thoughts, hopes, dreams, and enchanted
moments with each other and the world via The Enchanted Self. There are
prizes and fun as we start a Woman's Wisdom Archive. Come and be part of
it! For more information go to:
http://www.enchantedself.com/purses.asp
Have an "enchanting" month. I wish you all
many enchanted moments!
Forwarding & Reprinting
(C) 2000-2004 Copyright The Enchanted Self - All
rights reserved.
Please feel free to pass this issue on to someone who might enjoy it. The
Enchanted Self Newsletter is copyrighted but may be quoted, reprinted, or
distributed in whole or part without prior permission, provided the
content is not changed and attribution is given including:
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
THE ENCHANTED SELF(R)
I also encourage you to include this
material in other publications, such as self-healing and professional
psychology newsletters. However, I
do ask that you contact me beforehand for permission and send a sample
issue.
To learn more about THE ENCHANTED SELF(R) - An Educational Approach to
Positive Psychology, please contact me or visit my web site.
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