This kid with his hat came out of the photo booth and he was so happy to see me! All grown up, here I was, a future version of himself standing in front of him, and he was at once awe-struck and jubilant, amazed that he had turned out so well.
Not long ago, it was August of 2022, I met Laura Kern Ellis, a hypnotherapist in Port Orange, Florida. Her contact information is as the bottom of this post.
She guided me under hypnosis to a meeting with a younger version of myself. While I have only a few memories of what was said to get me there, I do recall not knowing how old this earlier version would be and recognized that without that suggestion, any “young Brian” might show up in this scenario. As I write this it is not the least bit surprising to realize the kid I met would be me at nine years old, as I had just begun to understand my need for self-reliance. This point leads me to the hat I was wearing while taking (the early version of selfies) photos in a photo-booth at the Rexall drugstore in Crystal Lake, Illinois. As you can see by the image included in this post, I’ve held on to one of those photos for over five and a half decades now.
I’ve written a very brief post about that encounter, but here I’ll give you the rest of the few details I recall from my hypnotherapy session.
The kid in the hat bought that stylish headwear with his own money. He had taken a job as a paperboy and was making a couple of bucks a week delivering papers on a route that had him riding his bicycle over that little beach town. With that money, he had begun to realize that he could afford to do things on a whim, for no reason other than to meet his own desires. My hypnotherapist suggested that this young man wanted to give me something, and sure enough, he came out of the booth overjoyed at my presence and he proceeded to remove that hat and said, “Here, I want you to have this.”
I don’t recall what words I used to protest and my attempt to refuse his offer was met with, “I’m not asking!”
The nerve of that cocky little bastard made me laugh and his generosity, coupled with his ebullience, made me cry. It still moves me to this day to realize that that’s just how he was, a good kid who would have given you the shirt off his back if he felt it would be helpful to you.
Knowing as I did all the trouble and turmoil he had yet to endure felt punishing to me in that moment and the encounter ended so quickly it made me happy that I didn’t have more time to say anything discouraging to that kid. He stands as a role model for me today as happiness and self-reliance, generosity and kindness seem to be qualities that have shaped my life. And today I profess that happiness is what makes almost any challenge a whole lot easier to manage. Self-reliance is expected and kindness, in my world, is of the many things you can choose to use as you encounter all those who are blessed to find their way into your circle of influence.
“‘Just Be Nice’ is the only religion anyone needs.” an atheist friend of mine likes to say. I agree.
As for Laura and her gift to me with this session, I’m eternally grateful. If you have any issue you’d like to resolve; the kind of issues that lead you to limit yourself or express your angst in self-sabotage; or if you smoke or drink or overeat or binge and purge or gamble or have any kind of self-destructive habits you’d like to reconcile, consider contacting Transitions Liaison Global, and tell Laura I sent you.
Enjoy!
Laura K. Ellis D.A. Hyp CPLT
Transitions Liaison Global Since 2010
Phone: 386-492-6492
