At age 26 I traveled from the Boston area to New York City to attend a seminar on General Semantics. One woman who spoke caught my attention.

Her name was Helen Hafner. Later during the day she and I spoke, I felt drawn to her and wanted to learn from her. Her specialty was to notice our self talk and to re-frame messages that our unkind, limiting, oppressive, false to scientific fact.

In my late teens my parents went through a divorce with many harsh, hurt feelings and poor communication. From that experience I became determined to learn how to handle delicate human relationships with more kindness and skill. This woman offered me guidance to learn just that.  She knew how I could retrain my thinking and gain new competencies.  Ahead of the curve in 1976 she know what we think shapes our perception of the world– and thereby the life we live! I had the amazing good fortune to meet her at that tender and potent age.

In a few months there was another opportunity to attend a meeting with her. That summer there was a two week residential program and then I immersed myself in what she taught.  On leaving she  had three activities that she recommended I pursue in Boston: Jin Shin Jyutsu, Pesso Psycho-Motor Training, and Re-evaluation Co-counseling. I chose to dive into all three and work them for many years. ( Readers know I use Jin Shin Jyutsu every day).

In her I saw compassion, joie de vivre, self love, strength of character, deep belief in Good and an amazing light in her eyes. She knew how to teach others to embark on a journey of self discovery.

In this post I am recommending reviewing people that have guided you in important ways. We can flush our awareness with our gratitude as we relish the details of how much each assisted us. For an extra spike of fun, we can stand up and take a bow that we attracted these folk into our lives.  Why do this? It feels great! It worked for me writing this article :).

What person or person has had a strong positive influence n you? Has someone offered light to guide you? I invite you to think about their good qualities and the life affirming impact on you. Bask! Notice that you connected with them and feel the gratitude.

Do you want to share a few words about who you just recalled? To comment, use “read in browser” at the bottom of the post, then in the browser you will see a comment box at the end of the article. Click there and tell me about who you appreciate and why.  As I approve the comments, others can read what is shared and all of us can lift ourselves on this bounty of love.