Choices and Illusions by Eldon Taylor

or it should be, that disease is sold this way. (I cover this subject in more detail in my book Self-Hypnosis and Subliminal Technology. )
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    Creating Self
    The media also provides images of success, ways to dress, what
    beauty is, and so on. These sell such goods as sports cars, cosmetics, and the like—good for the economy, maybe, but if the image is not
    exactly aligned with how the viewer sees him- or herself, then the
    image suggests a lack on the part of the viewer. There is one big
    subliminal message in advertising: you’re deficient in some way,
    and therefore you need this product.
    Movies such as First Blood romanticize getting even. Heroes and heroines build images of courage and strength through violent acts
    against “bad guys.” Children copy what they see. Promoters sell
    it not just through the movies but also through such add-ons as
    toys. What child has seen Star Wars and not wanted a lightsaber like those of the Jedi masters?
    Peers, parents, teachers, and others tend to be insensitive. Their
    words, looks, gestures, and even jokes often make us feel inferior.
    We all long to be included, wanted, important. All in all, the negative so far outweighs the positive that it is no wonder many people feel as though their real self is trapped in some empty shell while life speeds by, especially since, according to the national Science Foundation, our minds produce as many as 50,000 thoughts each
    day. Unfortunately, it’s easy to become so accustomed to this state of affairs that we celebrate it with bumper stickers and sayings such as “I don’t get even—I get evener!” and “TGIF” (this last saying suggests that work is miserable and sets a frame around what we do
    five days a week, therefore conditioning us to find work distasteful whether it is or it isn’t).
    Compensation
    Compensation is a psychological mechanism identified first
    by pioneering psychiatrist H. S. Sullivan. When individuals lack
    confidence and esteem, they often compensate by extracting their
    worth from another. An unconscious nonsense belief seems to
    propel them into behavior that ridicules, offends, and hurts others.
    Physical violence is just another way of acting out pain or fear—not that it’s really any different in an emotional sense. The abuses they 25
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    CHOICES AND ILLUSIONS
    dish out can be thought of as their own inner insecurities being
    compensated for by making someone else feel insecure—as they
    do. It’s all a rapid downward spiral that leads to anything but true happiness and success.
    like nina, the female eagle in Chapter 1, it is easy to outsmart
    those who may offer an alternative to the known or the comfort-
    able. Small minds condemn what they do not understand. like
    nina, most people do not accept that within themselves is a power
    that can change all of those self-limiting, self-destructive beliefs, a power that can indeed result in manifesting a person so self-responsible that he or she walks and lives above the fray—in the
    world but not of the world. This is truly your birthright. life is not designed to be only struggle.
    Mark Twain tells a story in his work Letters from the Earth. In the story, the archangels are deciding where to hide God. It is
    suggested that they hide Him on the moon or deep beneath the
    surface of the sea, and so forth. Each suggestion, however, eventu-
    ally leads the archangels to conclude that humankind is too smart
    for that—sooner or later they would find God. So where do they
    decide to hide Him? Within every human being—for “the last place
    mankind will look is within,” they conclude.
    Within every human being exists a propensity for greatness.
    The gifts may vary, and the greatness may be manifested in a vast
    array of alternatives—say, from carpentry to rocket ships—but the
    gift that gives us true self-respect and lifts the spirit