so weak, so that we notice it start working.
I wanted more. He spoke to me about when you see nine people and have the sensation of a group. Up to eight, you don’t think of them as a group, but when you hit nine your brain identifies them as a little crowd. Another way to change your brain: Make it start seeing a crowd when you hit fifteen, or even twenty.
I said it was like changing the factory settings of something. Was it possible? He told me that we were talking about a brain, that it didn’t have factory settings and that all changes were possible.
They called me for the CAT scan. I knew that when I came out I wouldn’t find him again. This happened a lot in the hospital: You’d go away for a minute and a person you’d made a connection with would have disappeared.
As I was leaving I shouted to him: “I’m going to use fifteen percent of my brain! Twenty percent!” He smiled at me. A moment before they shut the door to the room where they were going to test me I noticed sadness, a huge sadness flooding from him. I don’t know what it was, but it made me tremble; this man radiated something.
They shut me into the CAT scanner and asked me not to move. I remember that this was the first day I started to change my brain. Every time it tells me something is definite I reject it and change what my brain thinks is the correctanswer. I am in dialogue with my brain and have changed its factory settings.
Over time I have realized that this man was not sad but was instead very happy. My brain thought that his lost gaze, his stare, radiated sadness. That was the factory setting. But it was actually happiness; he was happy to hear a kid of fifteen shout out the phrase that he most believed in.
Does this discovery help in our daily life? It’s really useful. You could put it this way: Don’t obey your first thoughts blindly. Consider well what it is that you are thinking. Look for things; don’t just be happy with your first thought.
It is possible to change your brain. I have trained myself to start counting at six; maybe it doesn’t seem like much, but I’m very proud.
So, don’t believe anything that comes straight from the factory. Think about it carefully and your life will improve.
13
The search for the south and the north
Dreams are the north for everyone; if they come true then you’ve got to head south
.
—an intensive care nurse who stroked my hair as I realized that I only had one lung
This is a piece of advice that speaks for itself.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on something that’s so obvious.
Where did I hear it? In the intensive care unit. I’d just come out of the lung operation and I had lost lung capacity—one of my lungs was missing. What did they do with it? I’ve always asked myself that.
A nurse came up and looked at me. She stroked my hair. I liked it a lot. Through the mask I tried to thank her for her kindness, but I’m sure that my face was made stupid by the anesthetic and I must have said just the opposite.
She was talking to another nurse who was stroking thebig toe on the only foot I had left. I swear I’m not making it up. It was a bit sexy, but it was great to wake up to such kindness after losing a lung.
The younger girl said to the older one: “Dreams are the north for everyone; if they come true then you’ve got to head south.”
That sentence fascinated me so much! I almost couldn’t breathe.… Luckily I was on a respirator so I didn’t have to worry about it.
They left, and I thought: How much north have I got left to travel? How much south will I conquer once my dreams have come true?
In my life outside the hospital I’ve put this into practice. Sometimes, if you’re lucky enough for your dreams to come true, you’ll see how you reach the north. I envisage the north of my life, and then I look for another dream and tell myself: “This must be in the south.”
I know, I was sedated and two nurses were stroking me. Should I trust so
I wanted more. He spoke to me about when you see nine people and have the sensation of a group. Up to eight, you don’t think of them as a group, but when you hit nine your brain identifies them as a little crowd. Another way to change your brain: Make it start seeing a crowd when you hit fifteen, or even twenty.
I said it was like changing the factory settings of something. Was it possible? He told me that we were talking about a brain, that it didn’t have factory settings and that all changes were possible.
They called me for the CAT scan. I knew that when I came out I wouldn’t find him again. This happened a lot in the hospital: You’d go away for a minute and a person you’d made a connection with would have disappeared.
As I was leaving I shouted to him: “I’m going to use fifteen percent of my brain! Twenty percent!” He smiled at me. A moment before they shut the door to the room where they were going to test me I noticed sadness, a huge sadness flooding from him. I don’t know what it was, but it made me tremble; this man radiated something.
They shut me into the CAT scanner and asked me not to move. I remember that this was the first day I started to change my brain. Every time it tells me something is definite I reject it and change what my brain thinks is the correctanswer. I am in dialogue with my brain and have changed its factory settings.
Over time I have realized that this man was not sad but was instead very happy. My brain thought that his lost gaze, his stare, radiated sadness. That was the factory setting. But it was actually happiness; he was happy to hear a kid of fifteen shout out the phrase that he most believed in.
Does this discovery help in our daily life? It’s really useful. You could put it this way: Don’t obey your first thoughts blindly. Consider well what it is that you are thinking. Look for things; don’t just be happy with your first thought.
It is possible to change your brain. I have trained myself to start counting at six; maybe it doesn’t seem like much, but I’m very proud.
So, don’t believe anything that comes straight from the factory. Think about it carefully and your life will improve.
13
The search for the south and the north
Dreams are the north for everyone; if they come true then you’ve got to head south
.
—an intensive care nurse who stroked my hair as I realized that I only had one lung
This is a piece of advice that speaks for itself.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on something that’s so obvious.
Where did I hear it? In the intensive care unit. I’d just come out of the lung operation and I had lost lung capacity—one of my lungs was missing. What did they do with it? I’ve always asked myself that.
A nurse came up and looked at me. She stroked my hair. I liked it a lot. Through the mask I tried to thank her for her kindness, but I’m sure that my face was made stupid by the anesthetic and I must have said just the opposite.
She was talking to another nurse who was stroking thebig toe on the only foot I had left. I swear I’m not making it up. It was a bit sexy, but it was great to wake up to such kindness after losing a lung.
The younger girl said to the older one: “Dreams are the north for everyone; if they come true then you’ve got to head south.”
That sentence fascinated me so much! I almost couldn’t breathe.… Luckily I was on a respirator so I didn’t have to worry about it.
They left, and I thought: How much north have I got left to travel? How much south will I conquer once my dreams have come true?
In my life outside the hospital I’ve put this into practice. Sometimes, if you’re lucky enough for your dreams to come true, you’ll see how you reach the north. I envisage the north of my life, and then I look for another dream and tell myself: “This must be in the south.”
I know, I was sedated and two nurses were stroking me. Should I trust so
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