Issue # 7, September, 2003


Dear Impish one,
You are the reason for this newsletter. I'm dedicated to
supporting the "imp" in you - your Incredible Magnificent
Potential; your Inner, Magical, Playful inner child.

You're receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it,
you're a member of "The Imp Community" online, or a friend
passed it on. Information at the end to sign up or unsubscribe.

A special welcome to new subscribers! Earlier editions are
archived: http://www.theimpjournal.com/archives/

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1. Feature Article: Are You Living in a "Talk-Sick" Environment?
2. Coaching Q&A: Am I handling these situations well?
3. News, comments, success stories, winners
4. Inspirational Message to Ponder

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1. Are You Living in a "Talk-Sick" Environment?

At a recent Potluck Dinner, I reconnected with Laurel, whom I
first met 6 years ago. As we chatted, I learned that Laurel is
taking responsibility to cure herself of Multiple Sclerosis.

Perhaps the best known story of someone curing him/herself of an
'incurable' disease is that of Norman Cousins described in his
book, "The Anatomy of an Illness".

Kala H. Kos, in her book, "From Ecstasy to Success" tells of
realizing that the painful disease of ankylosing spondilitis
that she had was one of her own creations. She discovered that
she had the ability to "re-create" health. It was more than
twenty years ago that she cured herself of a disease for which
her doctors had told her there was no cure. It started her on a
journey to search for "the inner causes of outer events".

How toxic is your inner mental environment? Is it riddled with
fear, resentment, worry, blame, anger or guilt? If so, there is
a strong likelihood that you are also struggling with some form
of dis-ease. In contrast, if your inner environment is one of
peace, love, joy, purpose, high self-esteem, gratitude and
forgiveness, I expect you are in excellent physical health.

Your thoughts and your emotions are intimately tied together.
The body can heal itself when the mind co-operates. The tendency
is to constantly focus on one's illness. Quoting from Kala's
book, "You have control of only one thing in your life, and that
one thing alone directs the immense power of Universal Energy.
The one thing over which you have control is how you focus your
attention." Think of it! You have that power!

The Law of Attraction is all about Universal Energy. In "Excuse
Me Your Life is Waiting", Lynn Grabhorn talks about "the curative
power of our higher frequencies". She asserts, "Illness exists
for only one reason: someone has flowed more low frequency energy
than high." The low frequencies are generated by negative
emotions, the higher frequencies by positive emotions.

How toxic is your self-talk? What messages are you giving yourself
everyday? I encourage you to take this next week and monitor your
self-talk and your emotions. From one theme in "The Imp Journal"
- Inside Me at this Precise Moment - come these suggestions:
Make it a habit to monitor what is going on inside you
(physically and emotionally) at intervals throughout the day.
Ask yourself the question, "What thoughts do I have that are
'feeding' any negative feeling?" Strive to stop the feeding!

Norman Cousins used the "high frequency" of laughter to cure
himself. "The Imp" encourages you to develop a playful spirit.
Check out http://www.theimpjournal.com/play.htm

Personal Coaching may be the support you are seeking to make
profound changes. Sign up for a free 40-minute "exploration"
coaching session. Let me know your time zone.

Laurel suggests the book, "Let it Flow" by Dr. Sheel Tangri
and his website http://www.drsheeltangri.com

Another book is "You Can Heal YOur Life" by Louise Hay
Law of Attraction resources: http://www.abraham-hicks.com

http://www.lynngrabhorn.com  http://www.lawofattractionbook.com
Kala's website is http://www.hawaiiheart.com

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2.Coaching Q&A: From Gail L., Courtenay, B.C.
"I ran into a situation this week that brought back all my old
insecurities and negative emotions. I felt slighted, unvalued
(is that a word?), disappointed, even a little betrayed. I
wasn't sure whether to call the other person involved on it,
as in the past this has usually led to the situation becoming
worse, not better. I did ask about it and got an offhand
response that did nothing to make me feel better about the
situation, quite the opposite in fact."
"Anyway, I guess I need to know if I'm handling these
situations well or not (I suspect the latter). I tried very
hard to be non-accusatory, and to phrase things in terms of my
feelings: When you..., I felt... etc."

First of all, Gail, I want to acknowledge your courage to
speak up and address the situation and in phrasing things in
terms of your own feelings, using "I" messages. "I" messages
are an excellent way to let others know what the impact of
their behaviour is on you. It is also taking "ownership" of
the problem without blaming the other person.

[Note to readers: An "I" message is structured in 3 parts -
When (describe situation or action other person took), I felt
(feeling) because (reason). An example - "When you left things
lying around, I felt really discouraged because I had just
tidied up ready for our company coming." Compare that to saying,
"You are always so thoughtless! I'm always picking up after you!
Can't you ever..." You get the drift. The second response will
create ill feelings. The first may elicit an apology.]

If the other person cares about the relationship, they usually
feel moved to respond in a positive way to an "I" message. In the
details that you later provided, Gail, you stated your co-worker
said, "I am not going there or taking on anything. It is simply
not my stuff." As first stated, it brought up old insecurities
and negative emotions. Yes, Gail, past issues got triggered.

So how do you deal with your feelings when they get triggered
like that? An effective tool to use in a situation like that
is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). EFT effectively
'neutralizes' negative emotions. Gail already had information
on EFT as a participant in my Starting Life Over pilot program.
Check out the Emotional Freedom Technique at
www.emofree.com

Gail later e-mailed: "The good news is that I did use EFT on it
and it worked!! I had to use it twice - once yesterday evening
when I was experiencing those negative thoughts that go round
and round in your head, and once again just as I was going to bed
to ensure that I wouldn't lie awake all night re-playing the
whole scenario over and over."

When your question is answered in this column, you'll receive a
set of blank Imp notecards. So go ahead! (First name, last
initial used.) Mail to my email address here.

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3. News, comments, success stories, winners

I'd love to hear from YOU! What comments do you have about the
usefulness of the ideas in this newsletter? What successes
have you experienced using the Imp Journal?

Our t-shirt winner for August is Angel McKay from Union Bay,
B.C. Angel comments, "It was so funny to get your e-mail
telling me about the t-shirt. Just this morning as I was getting
dressed - I was looking for a t-shirt that was presentable and
found that I did not seem to have a single one without some type
of mark, stain or hole! Thank you so very much."

Angel is a new subscriber to our newsletter and also requested
some Imp game cards. The "game" is to not get caught leaving
"The Imp and I were here" cards somewhere for someone else to
find. The cards are getting around the world! Check the guest
map, read the comments and join the game by requesting cards.
http://www.theimpjournal.com/where-in-world.htm
 
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4. Inspirational Message to Ponder
The Imp encourages you to write the quote on a card, read it
regularly, and then journal about your thoughts, insights,
feelings and, especially, actions.

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of
Hell, a Hell of Heaven." - John Milton

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Share this IMPressions newsletter with your friends.
Just hit the forward button on your e-mail program...

Look for your next newsletter in mid-October.

Coming soon to a computer screen near you my second site
http://www.StartingLifeOver.com

Warmly, "The Imp and I", Beverley ;-)

Beverley Howden, M.Ed.
"The Imp Lady"
Author, Speaker,
Personal Empowerment Facilitator,

1-250-897-0992

 

The Imp is the delight of my life starting over in 1993.
My other website is www.StartingLifeOver.com

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