Bev Aisbett - Letting it Go: Attaining Awareness Out of Adversity

CONTENTS

HarperCollinsPublishers

First published in Australia in 1996

by HarperCollinsPublishers Pty Limited

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Copyright 1996 Bev Aisbett

The right of Bev Aisbett to be identified as the moral rights author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 (Cth).

This book is copyright.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Aisbett, Bev.

Letting IT Go: attaining awareness out of adversity.

ISBN 0 7322 5729 3.

1. Self-perception. 2. Self-esteem. 3. Life skills.

4. Self-actualization (Psychology). I. Title.

158.1

Cover illustration by Bev Aisbett

50gsm Bulky News used by HarperCollinsPublishers is a natural, recyclable product made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations in the country of origin, New Zealand.

Dedicated,

with love,

to Buzzy

for being there in the dawn

that made the darkness all

worthwhile

AND

Deepest thanks for love, friendship,

support & gentle guidance, to

Robbi Zeck, David Milligan

and all at IVI

Writing the IT Books, as I fondly refer to them, has offered me great rewards:

• firstly, the privilege of seeing my own creativity immortalised;
• secondly, being in a position to offer hope and help to others through passing on all that I have learned a great reward indeed;
• and thirdly, to see before me the very evidence of my own evolutionary course of discovery that began with survival, moved through understanding and has now embarked onto insight.

None of these gifts would have come my way if I had not had an IT, if I had not experienced what I saw at the time as great suffering.

It was through this very suffering that I was forced to face the fears that I could no longer ignore, work at the resistances I held, clear the blocks that stood in my way and heal the wounds that caused me such pain.

And, as a result, a profound change occurred. I became more aware, more conscious, more enlightened than I had ever been before.

In my quest to overcome what seemed to be an enormous obstacle, I was given the opportunity and the motivation to change the way I lived.

And so, I once again pass on to you all that I have discovered, in the hope that you too, may find your own answers and finally, peacefully, joyfully, let IT go.

CONTENTS

PANIC PROBLEMS

The fact that you have not suffered severe anxiety, depression or any other major emotional crisis, does not exclude you from benefiting greatly from the information and exercises contained in this and the two previous books.

Few of us go through life without some form of IT, whether IT be addiction, dependence, illness, anger, impatience, intolerance or one of a myriad other problems around self-worth that hold us back from a true expression of self, or a greater freedom to participate fully and joyfully in life.

Someone suffering from extreme anxiety does not necessarily need to change and grow to any greater degree than many others - the need is just more urgent.

I invite you to follow the lead of those wonderful panic people who, in courageously facing their fears and blocks, have worked to rebuild their lives, not only to ensure recovery from anxiety, but to become more loving, independent, compassionate and responsible citizens of the world.

Thank you

So, ITs still around, eh?

But boy, hasnt he changed!

Hes gone from this...

to this...

... or even this!

IT has evolved from being a major obstacle to become an occasional annoyance or, hopefully, a tool for growth! And its all through your hard work!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Look how far youve come!

Youve gone from being overwhelmed by IT...

... to living with IT!

In order to achieve this, you took back control by...

• accepting ownership of your IT
• recognising self-defeating patterns in your thinking
• monitoring and halting negative self-talk
• realising that fear did not stop you from functioning.

And, having completed your work in these areas, you moved on to...

... living IT up!

This meant...

• recognising IT in all of ITs forms - anger, guilt, self pity - anything that stood in the way of your enjoyment of life
• seeing IT as a barometer for the blocks that need work
• not resisting IT but working withIT to instigate positive changes.

And, if you have done your homework, by now you probably will have developed...

• greater self-worth
• a more flexible attitude to lifes changes