Short story: John gets some good, and helpful, advice from his Psychologist
By emptychair
@innertalks (23742)
Australia
June 24, 2022 8:37pm CST
Doctor Bernard Barnard was a well-respected psychologist, and a practising hypnotist too.
One of his patients, who we will call John, had a problem in being acceptive, and satisfied, with his position, in his life.
The Doctor told him:
"To start with, work with what you have got, do what you can with what you have."
"Now, this beginning idea for you is good in some respects, but you should never be totally happy with what you have, but always be striving to make more of yourself too."
"Complacency is no good, but acceptance is ok."
"That first step, that I recommended for you is a step into acceptance, which always must be the first step, to move a life past its currently stuck point."
"Now, most of us have some resistance to these ideas, so we will put you under hypnosis now, and try to ascertain what your blockages to doing this, and accepting, its underlying truths, might be."
And so, John was now hypnotised.
His conscious mind was being bypassed in this procedure, although he was still wide awake, and conscious.
Amazingly, as this goes, the reason was immediately found, as to what was John's main reason for his resisting his moving forwards in his life.
It came out that John had had trouble learning to walk, when his father had picked him up after he had fallen over, and thrown him up into the air, then caught him, as he landed back down again.
This fear of walking on his own two feet was developed then, and it later moved across to all areas of his life, and so then he was his own worst enemy.
After the discovery of the reason for his being blocked, in his moving forwards in his life, John went back to studying, and inspired by his own therapist, he also became now a hypnotist, and a psychologist too.
Help can really help the helpless.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
The picture is of John, as an infant.
6 people like this
6 responses
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
Yes, that's true.
Also, some of us, like me, know what caused our problems, but still, we cannot get past the traumas, that were caused yet either.
We are still stuck in that way of reacting, and seem almost forced in continuing in living that way, in our lives, without the courage to get past that way of living our lives.
We can know the problem, and its cause, but it takes courage, and effort, and a certain something else too, maybe hopefulness, to be able to finally move past the effects of these past traumas on our lives.
@RubyHawk (99367)
• Atlanta, Georgia
26 Jun 22
@innertalks I had so much trauma in my young life it’s a wonder I can function at all but I plod along.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
@RubyHawk Yes, we all need to be Mr Plod's, or Ms Plod's, in our lives, and plod along through, in some way, or another. There just could be a pot of gold, at the end of each life too, if God is really there, waiting for each of us, upon/after our life completion here.
@crossbones27 (52937)
• Mojave, California
25 Jun 22
If you have no support and people are not being supportive. Chances are you are not going to go far in this world. Good lesson brother.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
25 Jun 22
Thanks.
Yes, we all need help at times, and we need to remain hopeful that someone, somewhere, can help us too.
If we do not think that we can be helped, or helped by anyone, we are a sad case indeed.
2 people like this
@crossbones27 (52937)
• Mojave, California
25 Jun 22
@innertalks So true and its amazing how some do not get that basic concept. Find a way you say. well find a way to help people and your world will not be so hellish anymore either. The selfishness of this world eats at me and I am selfish myself, just not that selfish. 
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
25 Jun 22
@crossbones27 l can be selfish too, as l do not like to miss out on my entitlements in life.
The truly selfish, though, also want the entitlements of everybody else for themselves too.
At least, l do not begrudge others, their entitlements, and l would even help them to get what is their entitlement too.
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
Thanks, siva.
Yes, it is often very hard to get past a past hurt.
The right help can indeed make all the difference.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
@Shiva49 That's a memorable question, which often has a sister statement to it too.
It wasn't my fault, I was made, persuaded, pushed, to do it.
When things are bad, we should not be too negative about it, as being negative, is said then to drag other negatives into our dark pit with us then too, and then somebody else will come along, and seeing the pit there, will fill it up with water, thinking that they can make a well out of that useful hole, but we are still stuck in it.
If we give up then, we might drown in our own, and other's negatives, too.
If we have learnt to swim in our negatives, by being positive about them, though, we might swim our way all the way to the top of our negatives, if enough negatives are thrown at us, and so finally escape our holes.
We can either sink, or swim, then, in most areas of our lives, and in any given situation, that happens to us in our lives, too.
@Shiva49 (28387)
• Singapore
26 Jun 22
@innertalks We all need the reassurance even for mundane things we take for granted.
We need a sounding board to bounce ideas.
However, we need to make sure we do not sink deeper in a sinkhole as there are a few who will say "things are bad, going to be worse".
Then it will be - "Did he jump, or was he pushed?"
1 person likes this
@misunderstood_zombie (8765)
• United States
26 Jun 22
I think we should work with what we have, and be happy. I am so thankful for everything, and even though I need so much, I don't let myself worry about that. Though there's nothing wrong with striving to be better and having better that's for sure.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
Yes, the starting point is always from who we are right now, and that is why self-acceptance, warts and all, for now, is so important.
We cannot often get over our own problems if we hate ourselves, and blame ourselves, and won't forgive ourselves, through this accepting of who we are right now.
We need to be honest, and truthful with ourselves, to get past our own problems, blockages, and fixations, in our lives.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
@misunderstood_zombie Yes, some people seem too afraid to look their own problems in the face.
We have to do this, if we are ever going to get past them, otherwise, they stay as a stumbling block in our way, or as a chain around our neck, that we are always carrying with us.
A problem night not be solved right away by our accepting, and looking at it, but it is nearly always the first step that we must take to try to solve them, or to move past them, in some way.
@misunderstood_zombie (8765)
• United States
26 Jun 22
@innertalks I agree. I always try to grow as a person and get rid of old baggage. Many people won't believe or look at their problems.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
Yes, l agree.
Even if we know the cause of our fear, it still does not always mean that we can overcome them too, though.
A mean bully dacked me once in primary school, in the schoolyard. I was only around 5, or 6 years old, at the time.
Ever since, 60 years later, l still remain shy, and hesitantly bashful, around others, socially.
I know the cause, but still cannot move past that sickness in that area.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
26 Jun 22
@CarolDM Thanks. The best that I can do is to take John's psychologist's advice too:
"To start with, work with what you have got, do what you can with what you have."
@CarolDM (203396)
• Nashville, Tennessee
26 Jun 22
@innertalks Such an unfortunate situation that happens to many. Bullying can sometimes cause a lifetime of pain and scars from the inside. I hope you find a way to keep moving forward and staying positive.
2 people like this
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
1 Jul 22
It's good John's problem has been solved. It's not good to generalize one's weaknesses for they need to be analyzed their root cause.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
2 Jul 22
Yes, l agree.
If we don't find the root cause for our problems, when we think that we have fixed it, it might then spring up again, in some other way, in some other area of our lives.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
4 Jul 22
@Nakitakona Yes, that same spider would be unlikely to find its way back into the church again, and you would have no more cobwebs, until another one does wander in again one day too.
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
4 Jul 22
@innertalks That reminds me of one of my experiences as a Church custodian. Everyday I see a cobweb on the corner of the ceiling. I remove it. Another day it's still there. I remove it again. Again it's still there in the next day. Now I take time to find the spider and remove it and place it outside. The next day, no more cobweb.
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