It Is Better to Have Loved and Lost… #relationships

It Is Better to Have Loved and Lost… #relationships

I look back at life with a proud sense of human triumph. I have had many attempts at love. Some lasted many years and were wonderful most of the time. Some have lasted many years and were terrible most of the time. Some lasted a short time, but were great. Other times I’ve taken chances at love, and it simply didn’t work out. Did that stymie my desire to find love? Maybe a little. I found myself a little depressed and sullen at times when I look back at my relationship history. It’s like opening a journal of plays that worked and plays that didn’t. I could either learn from the mistakes, or grieve over the loss.

I still feel that as the heart leads, it is always searching for love—romantic or God or platonic love. The heart is a rudder that will always take us to a divine, loving destiny. We may not always end up in the perfect, life-long partnership, but we will certainly learn a ton of lessons in the searching. Maybe along the way we will have some incredible passion, fun, joy, camaraderie, and intimacy. That is certainly all of our hopes. Fifty-three years is past the halfway mark. I’m now on the home field, heading toward the end-zone. Just how much stamina do I have left to take the tackles from the blind-sided dates, the avoidant blockers, and the anxious linebackers ready to commit off-sides before the play is called? (God, Dad would be proud of me if I he could hear this gay man making a football metaphor after years of trying to teach me the ins and outs of the game, with me only smiling glibly and pretending to care.)

My age makes for about 35 years of real dating.  I’ve almost been married twice to women. God bless both of them. To any of the men who may be reading this who have dated me, pretend that you never read it and don’t comment. I know I have been a hardnosed partner when it came to being right. I have asked for you to be perfect and authentic and upstanding. These were mostly things that none of you could be at certain times of the relationship. I know that you are sorry for that. I wish I would have been more forgiving—at least enough to have continued to love and not let go. I just felt like some things—like trust—were impossible to replenish. And maybe they could have been worked on.

We say, “What does love have to do with it?” Sometimes, absolutely nothing. Reason is more likely to keep your head on straight and keep you striving for the goal when you are clearly in the end zone. But some times you just need the right coaches on the sidelines urging you to do the right thing. For me, I had friends telling me all the wrong things. I have grat friends who became my ally  against my exes. I couldn’t see that there was an ending to many problems. I couldn’t see the problems as a sickness or a deficiency that would pass. I couldn’t see that my love could cover it all. I hope not to make that mistake again as I journey on, holding my head above the water, weathering out the storms of my upcoming relationship life.

______________________________________________

New Challenge: Go to Week 11 of the “Year to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com

______________________________________________

Go to www.bosebastian.com for Week One to Four Challenges:

TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com

·       My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)

·       Introduction to Meditation

·       Smoke Cessation mp3

·       Weight Loss mp3

·       Hypnotic Lap Band surgery Mp3

·       Insomnia mp3

·       Eternal Om mp3

·       Meditation Music mp3

·       Guide to Meditation mp3

·       Healing the Body mp3

·       And my “Lessons from the Heart” book ready for your download purchase.

Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. Please feel free to comment and/or sign up to receive your blog sent to you directly or stream with an RSS Feed.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day.  I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header. Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK:  “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!

Freedom or Bondage? #12yearsaslave

Freedom or Bondage? #12yearsaslave

Currently the movie 12 Years a Slave starring Chiwetel Ejifor as Solomon Northrop, a free black man in 1840s America. Solomon makes his living as a fiddle player, while his wife is his teacher. He is shanghaied by a pair of nefarious white men and soon finds himself on a ship headed to New Orleans. There, he is informed he will be called Platt and is sold into slavery by an unscrupulous business played by Paul Giamatti. As the story goes, Platt does his best to be authentic and a good worker while he waits for the chance to regain his rightful name.

Every minute of every day every human has the opportunity to make the choice of being in bondage to our Ego or to find freedom in a greater and more powerful place—the conscious observer mind.* All healthy and effective change starts with this perspective. The body and the mind can trap an individual and keep him/her enslaved to habits, hungers, and angry and frustrating thoughts. To be free of the shackles of any of the above, you must take time to meditate to get to the place in your mind where you can let go of the ego or deductive side of the mind and take hold of the most powerful part of your life, the conscious observer mind.

This objective mind can renew you, create a new thought process for the future, and make considerable change to a mind and body that you may have given up on. For certain, many—including me—have been taken out of the garbage dump and been revived with peace and mental acuity. Where once I thought I would never be able to let go of anger or an insecure anxiety, I have found a way to reprogram my mind using useful tool from Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and EMDR. I have found peace. You can too.

Everyone has a story. Make your story be one of freedom, not one of bondage. Check out all the ways Hypnosis can help you in the near future and with most problems in your life. Go to my website below. I’d be very happy to hear from you. Have a happy and healthy New Year.

______________________________________________

New Challenge: Go to Week 11 of the “Year to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com

______________________________________________

Go to www.bosebastian.com for Week One to Four Challenges:

TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com

·       My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)

·       Introduction to Meditation

·       Smoke Cessation mp3

·       Weight Loss mp3

·       Hypnotic Lap Band surgery Mp3

·       Insomnia mp3

·       Eternal Om mp3

·       Meditation Music mp3

·       Guide to Meditation mp3

·       Healing the Body mp3

·       And my “Lessons from the Heart” book ready for your download purchase.

Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. Please feel free to comment and/or sign up to receive your blog sent to you directly or stream with an RSS Feed.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day.  I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header. Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK:  “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!

* (Please know that in no way am I minimizing the enslavement of the African Americans by making this spiritual comparison!)

The #dramaqueen

Have you ever known someone to have a life filled with drama, only to be bereft of real, solid happiness and peace? We often call this kind of person a Drama Queen, whether it’s a guy or a gal.

Drama can be very addictive if it is your means for self-importance in the world. When you derive all of your meaning from life by the amount of turmoil you can conjure, you know you have a problem. As I have gotten older, I tend to stay farther and farther away from this type of person. Their energy is life-sucking.

As a young man I had a lot of drama in my life, most of it not self-imposed. But our early years are when we learn how to manage life and love. So it stands to reason, that we may try to recreate drama, should our lives stop having considerable meaning.

I remember a time when I truly started to feel the Peace of God in my life. Strange doesn’t begin to describe the feeling that enveloped me. I was used to a life of struggle, fear, and anxiety. So, when peace came to visit, all I felt was a big, fat void. It felt strange and lifeless. It was similar, I guess, to the feeling cigarette smokers say they feel when they stop having a cigarette in their hands after they quit.

What do I do now? What is emptiness about? Is peace a “something” to do?

A very smart therapist told me once that I needed to take a year or two off from relationship, because I didn’t know what it meant to be alone. I spent many years fighting the assignment, until I began to reflect on what I just described about peace.

What I really was running from in being alone… was God. Peace was the presence of God. I felt uncomfortable in the presence of Spirit, to put it bluntly. Until I could sit alone and be fine with it, I decided, I was going to forgo any kind of new relationship. This was no longer an assignment for a therapist; it was a spiritual dictum.

I made a good choice. The first few weeks were hell. I sat alone with the television on, the computer on my lap with four open chat windows, played online games, and talked on the phone. What I didn’t do was be alone. It took weeks before I began to shut out the social media and disturbing crime dramas, which only reflected my inner turmoil even more. Soon, I began to take small chunks of time to the silence.

There I met a surprising guest—someone I didn’t imagine still existed. His name was Bobby. He was about seven years old. He hid out in a closet underneath his brother’s clothes during the day. His only source of light was a LiteBrite with the pretty colored pegs forming the shape of a butterfly. His story was about observing my choices. Some were not making this young part of me feel very secure. 

So, I made a commitment to my inner child and to myself to observe how I felt about every choice in my future. Did it cause security, or did it bring confusion and drama? This is your choice today! 

If you want peace, you must choose it—everyday!

Royal Puffery on #PrincessCruises - Part II

Royal Puffery on #PrincessCruises — Part II

I just got back from a 7-day cruise on the Royal Princess, a brand new ship that had just been launched June of 2013 and christened by Princess Kate. This beautiful ship spans the size of almost four football fields, replete with every kind of class, luxury, or relaxation you might imagine. But, with the luxury and classes, comes plenty of royal puffery.

Food Aboard the Princess

The first night we ended up having to eat at the only 24-hour food source available because the medical and security process took so long. (IF YOU HAVEN’T READ PART ONE, GO BACK JANUARY 25^TH’S BLOG.) Each item of food we tried was better than the next. One thing you can count on, as we were told by the Cruise Director, Ron Goodman, that most people gain from one to three pounds A DAY on a cruise. That would mean we could gain, if we didn’t watch what we ate, 7-21 pounds. I gained about 5 or 6, but have lost four already just three days at home and monitoring my food and exercise.

I know other people, personally, who gained 15 or pounds on the ship. So, watch out for the wonderful food, and make your choices count. I chose small portions of the rich food and ate lots of leafy and green vegetables daily, which helped out a lot. The ship’s chefs also had many forms of protein, including fresh grilled fish daily. I also took great advantage of those healthy choices for my own figure. I, also, found it very interesting that every day the chefs had made gluten-free and sugar-free options for almost everything. I had gluten free bread, desserts, and pasta while onboard. I also asked for agave nectar as a sweetener, which they also had.

Spa Treatment’s Aplenty

(I am providing the name and the kind of therapy of each practitioner, because I saw nowhere on the ship any kind of certification papers for anyone, even when I asked.) Our second day onboard was the day we chose to make our spa day. We had a couple’s massage and facial with Megan Scarratt and Arceli Paduga. After the beautiful massage, we were asked to sit on a couch and were given a prescription of lotions and detoxifying formulas that would cost upward of $300. We declined. Again, royal puffery.

JUST AN ASIDE: I felt it was very interesting how every time a practitioner would quote prices on the ship, he or she never say the word dollars or hundred. So, for three hundred and fifty-five dollars, they would say, “That would be for three, five, five.” And with their foreign accents, everything sounded quite palatable.

Next, we both had our teeth whitened by Natasha Fiskin from Russia. You can tell, all of these technicians were from different countries. The teeth whitening worked great for my partner, but for me, who has two front caps, it didn’t work so well. We were told by Natasha that she could whiten caps. I saw a small difference. But what was most interesting was that she, also, provided us with 3 months worth of capsules of teeth whitener that we were to use, which cost ONE FOUR SEVEN per person. Natasha said that this treatment was surely not going to cause any gum problems as other treatments do. After two days I had stop the treatment because I couldn’t bite down on my front tooth without severe pain. I asked Natasha about it, she said to make sure I don’t touch the gums. So, this treatment was supposed to never affect the gums, yet I had to avoid the gums, which, by the way, I had avoided the entire time. Royal puffery.

The next spa treatment I had was called a Ionthermie-Detox and Inch Loss Treatment from Mitsy-Misuko Tsubobayashi. I have no idea what kind of certification she had, though she told everybody at the seminar with this detox she could help you lose 1-3 inches immediately. Now, this was the height of Royal Puffery, in my estimation. Mitsy used electrodes on your problem area for over twenty minutes, making each of your surrounding muscles engorge with blood and tighten. So, when she measured you before and after, your muscles were flabby when you started and so tight you couldn’t let out your stomach at the end. Of course, I lost an inch. But when I went back to the room, the muscle therapy had worn off and I was back to my inch larger stomach. Mitsy also said that I had “clogged lymph nodes in my stomach—in fact, 120 of them.” Interestingly enough, I met a doctor that evening at a GLBT get together who told me that was completely incorrect. He said, “If your lymph nodes were clogged that would each swell up to the size of a dime.” Mitsy told me I needed FOUR ZERO THREE of seaweed to help detox my body. I decided to pass on that as well, fortunately.

The last spa treatment I had was a pedicure. It was great. Althea Rose didn’t offer me any extras to go with my toes. I had a friend who also used their Hair Waxing Process. It was a very clean process, but it did cause my friend to break out severely afterward in sensitive areas. The sixty dollar oil didn’t help with that.

All in all I spent 947 dollars on the spa, which includes a 15% gratuity for everything, including drinks, extra food services (their were three sit-down restaurants on board that charged $25 extra just to go there).

Internet Aboard the Vessel

If you are traveling with any kind of computer, Ipad, tablet, or cellphone, don’t expect to get reception after 50 miles out to sea. If you want reception, you are welcome to pay a considerable fee for it. I checked email two times, only looking at the titles, because the process was about 5 times slower than normal internet services. Each minute cost $1.95 and to get connected it cost $3.95. So, for 3-4 minutes, I was charged 10.95. I opted to not worry about the cellphone, because I wanted to get away from business, not bring it with me.

______________________________________________

New Challenge: Go to Week 10 of the “Year to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com

______________________________________________

Go to www.bosebastian.com for Week One to Four Challenges:

TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com

·       My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)

·       Introduction to Meditation

·       Smoke Cessation mp3

·       Weight Loss mp3

·       Hypnotic Lap Band surgery Mp3

·       Insomnia mp3

·       Eternal Om mp3

·       Meditation Music mp3

·       Guide to Meditation mp3

·       Healing the Body mp3

·       And my “Lessons from the Heart” book ready for your download purchase.

Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. Please feel free to comment and/or sign up to receive your blog sent to you directly or stream with an RSS Feed.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day.  I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header. Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK:  “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!

Who Am I? #iamsecond

Who Am I? #iamsecond

I woke up this morning after a terrifying dream. In my daze I imaged clearly that I was in West Nashville. I had lost my money, my home, my friends, and car. The only thing I had was a bicycle. On the bike I was trying to get from Nashville to a place where someone would remember me, my hometown in Pennsylvania. In the passage toward my home, I saw my mother who didn’t know me either. I saw friends who didn’t recognize me. The only person who knew me was an ex-partner from 14 years ago. He carried a small puppy. We decided together to go across a river on a bicycle. When I awoke, I had absolutely no idea who I was, where I was, or who was sleeping in the bed next to me. Honestly, I was the most confused I had ever been. It was if, in the dream, I had lost my complete identity.

So, this dream got me thinking. If we are spirits living in human bodies, what happens when we depart from our bodies? I have a dear friend who recently died—and this has also happened with a few others who departed from this earth—who came back to me in a dream and was disoriented. She expected everyone who knew her on earth to be able to hear her, see her, and respond to her. Though, from where she was, out of body, no one was able to hear her but other people who had departed from their bodies. All of these friends who departed seemed to find me in my dreams and speak to me with confusion and frustration.

This was the exact feeling I had in my dream. I wondered why the only person who knew me was my ex-partner, with whom I shared eight years of my life. Perhaps, in some strange way, I felt that after all those years, even though we don’t talk now, he is the only person who ever really knew me. I’m not quite sure. What I know for certain is that all we dream is in metaphor, so this relationship to my exe in the dream must signify something in my own subconscious. Dreams are a peculiar mechanism of communication from your own heart and from God. To understand completely what dreams mean, you have to have someone who is very adept in interpreting them. Typically, I’m very good at helping others to decipher dreams. But just as in anything in life, helping yourself is always much more difficult than helping others.

This is why most people who are overweight are caregivers. They take care of everyone else in their lives except themselves. Self is an elusive entity. We don’t know who we are unless we begin the practice of prayer or meditation where we can learn to be the conscious observer of our own humanness. This kind of practice became the first conscious evidence of who I actually am as a human and conversely as a spirit.

The human existence is an amalgam of two aspects: spirit and your reptilian brain—or humanness, plus we have the help of the mind, which is like our own personal, programmable computer. The problem with the brain is that, instead of being the go-between for the body and spirit, sometimes it acts on its own volition and coerces us to do things we may feel “programmed” to do. For instance, if your mother gave you cookies every time you succeeded in life as a child, you may be apt to reward yourself with food now. Also, any kind of loving gestures or non-loving gestures you may have had as a child will appear in your expressions of love as an adult. These are called attachment theory. This is the programmable part of the brain, so we have to get in there and un-program before it destroys our future.

So, the question of Who Am I? becomes an answer that sounds like this: you are a unique combination of spirit and humanness that can be led by God or by your human nature. You always have a choice. The help is in the way you program your soul or mind to urge you to move toward the spiritual.

______________________________________________

New Challenge: Go to Week 11 of the “Year to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com

______________________________________________

Go to www.bosebastian.com for Week One to Ten Challenges:

TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com

·       My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)

·       Introduction to Meditation

·       Smoke Cessation mp3

·       Weight Loss mp3

·       Hypnotic Lap Band surgery Mp3

·       Insomnia mp3

·       Eternal Om mp3

·       Meditation Music mp3

·       Guide to Meditation mp3

·       Healing the Body mp3

·       And my “Lessons from the Heart” book ready for your download purchase.

Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. Please feel free to comment and/or sign up to receive your blog sent to you directly or stream with an RSS Feed.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day.  I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header. Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK:  “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!

Royal Puffery & Blood-borne Pathogens on #PrincessCruises

Royal Puffery & Blood-borne Pathogens on #PrincessCruises

I just got back from a 7-day cruise on the Royal Princess, a brand new ship that had just been launched June of 2013 and christened by Princess Kate. This beautiful ship spans the size of almost four football fields, replete with every kind of class, luxury, or relaxation you might imagine. But, with the luxury and classes, comes plenty of royal puffery. As a cruise confines you to the ship on four of the seven days of your weeklong excursion, you tend to want to experience the onboard extravagances. You soon find out, however, that each extravagance has a 100 to 400 dollar extra bitter pill, seaweed wrap, detoxifying therapy, or insole that you must have to continue on with your good health after you pay the already-high initial fee.

The first day onboard the Royal Princess was about relaxation, as I hadn’t had a vacation in three years because of taking care of a home and an aging mother. I really needed to be away from everything and everyone that reminded me of responsibility. As a result, I decided to let loose and try things I may not have tried before: zip lining, a seaweed wrap, paddle board snorkeling, a trip to a butterfly farm, and I also decided to see if I could stay gluten free the entire trip.

As we went on a few introductory seminars to see what the ship had to offer, my partner and I discovered a spa sanctuary called the Enclave, which only 40 people were supposedly given a pass to use. While I don’t have an eidetic memory, I saw way more that 40 different people there. However, the spa staff told me that they had a failsafe way to make sure no more than 40 people could be in the spa at one time by taking your ship’s credit card and only allowing 40 pass keys at one time. So, mostly, the Enclave wasn’t crowded. It offered a place for my partner and I to relax without any children or crowds around. This extra luxury cost us $129 extra per person

Picture of the gash on my leg: 1-15-14 attached

Unfortunately, the first day in the huge water therapy spa, I walked from a lush fountain of water that was supposed to relax my neck to the center of the spa. On my way, I gashed my leg down all the way to the bone on a cement step that protruded from the guard rail, almost one foot each way around. I couldn’t see the cement step, or the bottom of the Jacuzzi, because of the bubbles and the dim lighting.

This accident hurt, but I didn’t know I had cut my leg down to the bone and the blood was gushing from me like a spigot until about 25 minutes later. I spent another 10-15 minutes bleeding in the Jacuzzi, went to the steam room and bled for another 10 minutes, before I went to a waterbed and lay there, because I began to feel dizzy. I didn’t realize my leg was gushing until a spa attendant was informed by a couple that blood was all over the inside of the steam room.  I looked up to see a trail of blood going from the steam room floor to me. Then I noticed the gash that made its way all the way to my bone. Blood was everywhere on me, on the floor, in the Jacuzzi and in the steam room. 

An attendant began to clean up the blood from the floor, while another attendant wrapped a towel around my leg and told me to wait until she could get me to the ship’s medical center. Twenty minutes later, she began to WALK me down to the floor below to acquire a wheelchair. Yes, I said walk! I had a towel, loosely wrapped around my leg and blood dripped onto the carpet the entire time. She told me she wasn’t allowed to use the passenger elevators, so she had to walk me through a maze of employee quarters, including some steps and bare cement, which I opted out of.

When the attendant got to the place where the wheelchairs were kept, a gate was locked. She tried lifting a chair from over the gate, but the one she chose was broken.  Fortunately, right about then, another ship attendant happened upon us. He lifted another chair out and, finally, I was wheeled to the ship’s head doctor, Dr. Peter du Toit from South Africa. Dr. du Toit cleaned the wound and asked me if I wanted stitches or would I want the wound to be glued together, so that I would be able to enjoy more of the ship’s activities. I would have to wear a waterproof patch the next few days. I chose to be glued back together.

This portion of the cruise, only two hours into the first day, took another two or three hours. I contested the medical charges, claiming it wasn’t my fault, so I had to be interviewed by ship’s security. I was asked to fill out an accident report, which I did. At this point, I need to tell you, that not one person asked me if I had any kind of blood-borne pathogen, such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or viral hemorrhagic fever.

I had bled on the carpet, in the Jacuzzi, and on the floor of 1/3 of the exclusive Enclave, and also on the employees side of the ship. No one seemed concern about spreading disease, even when I asked to write the cruise director or someone in charge a letter about what had happened and how it could be prevented again. I had been informed that the Jacuzzi was emptied that night, but I doubt that happened. The dangerous area had never even been tended to the entire time I was there. I checked daily and asked daily.

______________________________________________

New Challenge: Go to Week 11 of the “Year to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com

______________________________________________

Go to www.bosebastian.com for Week One to Ten Challenges:

TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com

·       My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)

·       Introduction to Meditation

·       Smoke Cessation mp3

·       Weight Loss mp3

·       Hypnotic Lap Band surgery Mp3

·       Insomnia mp3

·       Eternal Om mp3

·       Meditation Music mp3

·       Guide to Meditation mp3

·       Healing the Body mp3

·       And my “Lessons from the Heart” book ready for your download purchase.

Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. Please feel free to comment and/or sign up to receive your blog sent to you directly or stream with an RSS Feed.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day.  I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header. Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK:  “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!

The Death of a Friend and Client — #livinginthenow

The Death of a Friend and Client— #livinginthenow

I woke up this morning and posted my blog. As I looked through my email, I noticed that one of my dearest friend’s mother past away on Wednesday. I felt so badly, because I had no idea. Allen and I were just with her and her son the week before we left for our trip. We were told that though her cancer was worsening, she had about eight months to a year to live. Apparently, that wasn’t so.

I’m in a state of shock, as we all get when someone we know and love dies. She and I entered into some deep therapy together, so I feel as though I understood her more than most. Her struggles in life were deep. Even still, she seemed to always have a big smile on her face and a warm hug for you when she greeted you.

The Buddhists have a ritual where you imagine someone you love perishing all the way until you she their bones and skin becoming one with the earth again. I believe this ritual is a beautiful one because, not only does it prepare us for the inevitable; but more importantly, helps us realize that life and love is ephemeral. It doesn’t last long. If you are anything like me, you know that time gets faster and faster the older you get. I blinked my eye and my vacation was over. Here I sit writing at my desk feeling as if the beautiful ocean and sun surrounding me for 10 days was just a picture in my mind.

These days and times always bring me back to the importance of living in the now. A great woman said during the time of a recurring cancer: “The secret to happiness is to love the moment that your in, more than the moment that just passed you by.” I believe that to be true down to my bones.

______________________________________________

New Challenge: Go to Week 11 of the “Year to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com

______________________________________________

Go to www.bosebastian.com for Week One to Ten Challenges:

TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com

·       My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)

·       Introduction to Meditation

·       Smoke Cessation mp3

·       Weight Loss mp3

·       Hypnotic Lap Band surgery Mp3

·       Insomnia mp3

·       Eternal Om mp3

·       Meditation Music mp3

·       Guide to Meditation mp3

·       Healing the Body mp3

·       And my “Lessons from the Heart” book ready for your download purchase.

Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. Please feel free to comment and/or sign up to receive your blog sent to you directly or stream with an RSS Feed.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day.  I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header. Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK:  “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!