In response to my last update, Using Your Mind to Defeat Morgellons Disease. Stella wrote, "I suffered over 10 yrs. I began to believe that it was all in my head after hearing it from plenty of people. My hope was depleting quickly and I couldn't imaging living the remainder of my life with this. I was thinking about ending it but I prayed alot and found your book. My quality of life has improved tremendously. I am no longer hopeless.
Thank you,"
Stella??

Hope (optimism) is the first step in defeating Morgellons. Unfortunately, it's often shattered by either an ineffective approach producing no results or set-backs. Margie, our Sunday facilitator, often says, "Improvement is not a straight line." which is why it's important to be resilient--learn and bonce back from set backs. Those set backs can result in depression, anger, confusion, upset, isolation and futile thinking.

You might remember reading that we only use about 11% of our brain power. As a youngster, I often wondered why that number was so so low. However, after having worked with hundreds and hundreds of clients in my stress management practice, I came to realize 11% is a net number. We actually use closer to 81% of our brain, but that 70% is in direct conflict yielding a net of about 11%. 

That 70% is about conflicting beliefs about the basics of how we should live our lives, morality, emotional confusion, emotional baggage, self esteem, and so on. Instead of realizing that we HAVE beliefs, we become and ARE our beliefs. We identify with these conflicting beliefs. As I shared in the first update, we catch suggestions and come to unhealthy conclusions leaving us as our worst enemy instead of our best friend.

As I promised, this update is about how to become your own best friend. Let's model it off a relationship you have with a close friend with whom you can confide the most intimate details without being judged.

Let's say you are looking for some advice about an issue with which you are conflicted or confused. You ask your friend for advice, your friend takes a few moments to think, asks you a few questions for clarification, and then provides you with advice. Now, let's for a moment, pretend that the advice is really poor and totally "out in left field." And even after you further explain your situation, you friend just doesn't grasp your situation and stays in "left field" with what you think is stupid advice.

Now, what would you do? First, you'd repeat what your friend suggested to make sure you understood, "You think I should (whatever)". And then, presuming you thought it stupid advice, would you thank your friend for trying to help or would you tell your friend how stupid he/she is? You would thank your friend, right?" and go about your business. But, what if, in frustration, you called your friend, "Stupid." and then insulted him?" Well, you might get away with it one or two times, but pretty soon, he would stop being your friend or even want to be around you.

Question: When is the last time you thanked yourself? Sounds alien and strange, right? Instead, you most often are demeaning, "How stupid can I be? I must have mush for brains!" We echo a critical parent's opinion of us (a caught suggestion) or come to self incriminating conclusions.

We're fortunate that our brains can't divorce us--unless that's what death is all about--the ultimate divorce! Just as we treat our close friends with respect, it's important that we treat ourselves with respect.

Let's put this in action with this example: You have heard me say, or read where I state, or have heard others share that the King diet is critical. You read that disinfection of your environment is important to prevent reinfection. You read that deep cleaning your skin by bathing up to three times a day is important and that if you do all three, you will get your life back.

You study the diet, obtain the right foods, follow instructions in Chapter III to disinfect, bathe with NG and use a disinfectant in the bath water, and you notice little if any results. Now what? Answer: Because you've had so many disappointments in the past, you come to a conclusion, "Nothing works for me, I'm beyond help." Or, "this is a rip off--Richard just wants to sell soap, I need a real doctor," and  so on. 

Remember, "garbage in, garbage out?" Result, you give up and go back to the internet hoping for a miracle as the garbage wins.

Loads of negative thinking results in disastrous results.  What are you options to effect a different outcome?
1. Positive thinking: In  summary, positive thinking is to reject the negative and state a positive. For instance, in response to "Nothing works for me, I'm beyond help," change the thinking to, "This program is going to work for me and I am succeeding." It's like you have to flood the negative with the positive hoping it will be so. Sometimes it works, but usually not because we are smart and the brain simply calls the positive a lie leaving us in the negative (garbage).

Power of Positive Thinkingis the title of a book by Norman Vincent Peale in 1952 (I was 6 yrs of age) and not much has been done since then with respect to producing different results, except for the following cognitive shift which I developed and taught to hundreds and hundreds of clients. Are they still doing it? Answer: I don't know, I hope so.

2. Cognitive shift is the option that works. Cognitive means to change your thinking to produce different results. Didn't Einstein state that the "definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?"

The cognitive shift is different and comes with the following explanation:
First: Our brain is only doing the best that it presently knows how with what the suggestions we've caught (friends, family, educators, etc), our conclusions, and or various courses of study in life. Unfortunately, our beliefs often "mold who we are," and those beliefs are often conflicting in nature. So we end up being our beliefs instead of knowing that we have beliefs and they can dictate our behaviors and habits.

Some beliefs become rooted in the subconscious. For instance, as a toddler we may have been taught the bed time prayer, "If I should die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to keep." In that short rhyming prayer, sleep and death are linked together. Possible result: Insomnia many years later.

To further complicate things, our ego gets involved. And, if we are our beliefs, when a belief is challenged, our ego often steps in to defend. Result: activation of the sympathetic nervous system--fight or flight. Result: production of hormones preparing our bodies to fight or run. Problem: there isn't anything from which to run or fight leaving a plethora of hormones gearing us up to go with no place to go or nothing to fight.

One of these hormones is cortisol which effects the production of blood sugar. If this hormone is not utilized by either fleeing or fighting, it can do major damage to the cardiovascular system and your health long term--an unhealthy stress response as explained in a book, Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer by Kenneth Pellitier.

By learning to become your own best friend, you can avoid many health issues and build optimism. And, it's easy to do.

Let me repeat, given all that you've put into your brain or have allowed into your brain, it is doing the best that it presently knows how. So, it's going to come up with what we call negative thinking, garbage, ideas, or some arbitrary thought, i.e. "This program isn't working--the diet is a hoax."

Instead of letting that thought rule the outcome, do what you would with your best friend and thank your intelligence.

Step #1. "Thank you my intelligence," or "thank you my incredible brain."

Next is to realize that it's not the holy gospel or some statement from your dirty (god). It's not a fact--it's an opinion based on your limited experience, suggestion your caught, or conclusion.

Step #2. Repeat mentally your understanding, i.e. "You have this idea that the program isn't working and that this diet is a hoax..."

Next is to search for the reasoning behind the negative (garbage) thought.

Step #3 "...because I I feel no different than before I started the King diet and Richard's program."

Respect is the next step by being repetitive!

Step #4 Thanks for your opinion

Marry Konicov, founder of Potentials Unlimited' was a well know hypnotist of the late 70's says, "When your thank your brain, it releases it's hold upon you." This is phenomenal. Remember, you have become your beliefs, your ego protects them. Your ego likes to be right and in some instances it will go to extremes just so it gets to be right. The "thank you" lets your ego stand down and opens your intelligence to new programming.

Remember, your brain is a computer and it will do exactly as you command. It will give you want you want on a silver platter or give you self destruction and strangely it doesn't care since it's often run by the ego.

With this preamble, you now have an opportunity to reprogram your brain to produce desired results. In the next update, I'll provide you the specific language to reprogram your intelligence to defeat Morgellons or accomplish anything you desire--build self esteem, overcome life crisis, love yourself, be happy, and so on as you'll find on my Stress management website. 

If you're tuned into the brilliance (forgive me for tooting my own horn) of what I'm sharing, you're going to want to read one of the best books ever written in the self help genre titled, My Dog Got Run Over by a Rainbow by yours truly. All the credit for this cognitive shift goes to my heroes: Dr Wayne Dwyer, Dr. Maxwell Maltz. Dr Isac Rubin, Dale Carnegie, Werner Erhardt, Kenneth Pellitier, Dr Joe Vitalie, Dr. Hans Selye, Robert Ringer, Rev Carol Whittaker, Dr. Herbert Benson, and others. Many of them have passed on but will forever have inspired me. 

Take this a step further and join the Sunday Morgellon's Event of the Week? The first portion, led by Margie, is about building optimism and the other ingredients is resiliency. 

• When was the last time you spoke with others who could relate with the agony you have or had experienced 24/7?
• When was the last time you had some hope in getting your life back?
• When was the last time you had a good laugh?
• When was the last time someone lent you a helping hand?
• When was the last time you had real inspiration?
• When was the last time you didn't feel isolated?
• When was the last time you didn't feel you were on a wild goose chase?
• When was the last time you got to ask me a question verbally?

This is what the meeting is about. It's a safe place to bring your isolation, anxieties, worries, fears, anger, frustration, depression, uncertainty, confusion, and so on and get a boost of inspiration, help, and confidence that you're on the right track. Beating parasites takes effort. And, I'm sure you've put in a lot of effort in the past, but got nowhere. The difference is now your effort is directed and produces results.

Plus, you get to ask me questions during the second portion of the meeting. As some of you know, I do not like phone calls, unless they are scheduled. The phone is such a waste of time, i.e. I call you and the phone rings and rings and rings (maybe a minute) and then, after your phone number is stated to me (another 15 seconds), there's a message that your voice mail is not set up or full, or, I get to leave a message and we play phone tag. No, I prefer emails to answer your questions--far more effective.

However, on Sundays, you can count on me being on the call. All you have to do is join in. And, since there are typically less than 30 people on the call, there's often silent periods providing plenty opportunity for you to ask your questions.