A man sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office; his nose is bleeding profusely. He tilts his head back so it will stop, his wife holds his hand with a look of concern on her face. You think to yourself, "Wow! I hope this guy gets in soon - he looks really hurt.



About 5 minutes go by and the bleeding-nose guy stands up, smashes his fist right into his own face, which in turn starts a whole new flow of fresh pain and a stronger flow of blood. He sits back down and again puts his head back while his wife pats his hand and says that it okay. "Honey the doctor will be here soon," she assures. "You look around to check and see if you are in some sort of "Twilight Zone" movie or one of the "Hidden Camera" shows.

About 10 seconds go by and the doctor emerges, horrified by the amount of blood in his waiting area. He announced with concern and a bit of disgust in his voice, "what is going on here?" The man stands up, and with relief in his eyes, says, "Doc, help me! My nose won't stop bleeding. I feel like crap, and it hurts everytime I do this!" You, his wife, and the doctor look on as he yet again smashes himself in the face. This time you think, "I'm not in a doctor's officer, I am in a looney bin!"

Expecting the doctor to call security, you stand up yourself and get close to the doors. Instead the doctor smiles and says, "You be Teddy and Mary's boy." The man says through a plugged nose and tears, "How did you know that?" The doctor replies, "Both of your parents did this same thing back in the 70's, it seems to be coming back into style. I saw a rap star the the other day who relayed that there was another celebrity rap star doing it. And I heard a report the other day that this is a genetic condition. The man stared, concerned, and queried, "How do you fix it?"

There in lays the question responses the doctor. I will tell you what your options are and you can decide.

a. You can take some anti-depressants because you have a chemical unbalance in your brain.

b. You can join a group of others who hit themselves in the face and support each other.

c. You can lay on a couch for a few years and talk to a professional while they ruminate about childhood. You may stop hitting yourself in a few years? or you will run out of money, whichever comes first.

d. You could drink alcohol, smoke pot and/or do other illegal drugs to mask the pain of hitting yourself.

e. you could stay in a relationship where your partner also hits him or herself in the nose so that you feel like you are normal.

f. This is one of our most popular fixer - blame everyone else for your self-inflicted facial bruises.

The man stopped , "I don't like any of those choices. Isn't there any other options at all?" The doctor scratched his head before haltingly replying, "Well, there is one thing you can do, but almost nobody ever, ever takes this route."

"What is it?" the asked with a cry of desperation.

Okay you asked for it mister. He slowed his breathing, closed his eyes, put his arm around the man, looks at you and the man's wife. The doctor's expression resembled someone about to give the launch code for a nuclear missile. He whispers, "Take personal responsibility and stop hitting yourself in the face - dummy.

How did the man respond? Who cares! My question is this: How will you respond if there is a challenge in your life? If you are not happy, fulfilled or filled with passion, the reaction will be negative, no matter the problem - be it, financial, emotional, health, relationship, spiritual, or any other area. Take personal responsibility and uproot patterns that keep you in that miserable spot and do something different. Stop with the "it's just the way I am" or "it was my parent's fault". In my opinion, this message will find one in a thousand who has the courage to change the patterns in their lives and reveal their inner magic. How will you respond?????

Copyright (c) 2007 Jason Sisneros