I thought of creating a testimonial page, but figured out that it would be easier to post these on my blog pages periodically. Not just for shameless promotion, but for common understanding, and breaking the belief that we are all alone in our process of change. I also like this email because Mandeep makes some good points of his own that people can benefit from.

Dear Gary,

I would like to say a big THANK YOU for creating a website that offers such a wealth of wisdom. I am truly grateful for this and feel blessed!!

I have had problems with social anxiety and depression for the last few years. Having tried different methods to help me rediscover my real Self the only one that had a real positive impact was Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The main teaching of this therapy was to change my core beliefs. It is for this reason that I really felt an attraction to your teachings as changing core beliefs plays a very big role.

I signed up for the free course a few weeks ago and have been practicing the gratitude and abdication of power processes. I would like to share with you my experiences of practicing these processes and how they have impacted my life.

The gratitude process has really opened my eyes to how simple it is to turn our attention to a state of appreciation…..there is always something to be grateful for!!! I can see how this process alone is soooooooo powerful in the long run. You mentioned that you actually live your life continually in a state of gratitude and i have made this one of my goals. When I am appreciating things I feel so happy and blessed, to be like this 24/7 must be just wonderful!!

I love your explanation of how our core beliefs are like a house that we have constructed over time. In the past I have tried to use affirmations in my quest for happiness but have now realized that the reason they do not work is because they are just like changing the color of the walls in our house of beliefs…..the walls are still there and have to be taken apart for any big changes to take place.

The abdication of power process has also had a very profound effect on me. When I was practicing CBT I began to realize that it was my interpretation of external events that were causing my negative emotions via my core beliefs. For example, I would walk into a crowded place like a bar and start to feel very anxious and when I saw people smiling or laughing I would interpret it as if those people were laughing and joking at me.

This resulted in me having high intensity panic attacks. The abdication of power made me see this whole scenario in a new light. Even though my anxious symptoms did decrease by continued exposure to these situations I hadn’t realized that I was actually abdicating my power over my emotional responses. Using the previous example of the bar, with CBT I would look to see if there was any evidence to support my belief that these people were laughing at me or ridiculing me. I found that there was actually no evidence to support my beliefs which made them dissipate but I still believed that external things controlled my emotions……if someone said I was funny I would take that as a compliment and feel happy, if someone said I was boring I would take that as an insult and feel down.

I desire to be happy regardless of what is going on outside of myself.
The abdication of power process has made me realize that it is down to our internal agreements\core beliefs of the external event that produces the emotions. It is here that I have also brought in the gratitude process. When I have found myself in situations where I am abdicating power and feeling negative emotion, as you advise, I first accept it and acknowledge it for the lie that it is but then I also show gratitude for the emotion because I know I have created it, no one else has, and that I can create positive emotions as well…..THE POWER IS MINE!!!

I have also been using the process of gratitude in meditation.

So Gary, I would again like to say thank you for offering these practical sessions to help us realize that we are all creators and that the power lies within us, not outside.

There are many others out there that share THIS TRUTH but you show us how to experience this truth using simple processes. BLESS YOU!!

Peace and love.

Mandeep
United Kingdom