by Suzanne M. Richter
I hated brussels sprouts. As a child, I employed the time-honored Children’s Vegetable Disposal Procedure: 1) deposit vile brussels sprouts in napkin; 2) slide napkin unnoticed under the table to waiting canine; 3) allow dog to more permanently hide sprouts in digestive tract. It worked great and only required a short, four-footed friend with nondiscriminating taste buds.
I could not guess that these foul tasting mini-cabbages would be part of an inspirational moment in my exploration of consciousness. Allow me to tell the story.
I was in college studying in Europe and living with a couple in the north part of London. I had just lost my expensive camera and was devastated at the situation I had created. I was seated at the dinner table. Tears plopped from my face onto my plate, adding a few more grains of salt seasoning to my supper. I stabbed at the food and shoveled it into my mouth with not even a smidgen of attention on what was at the other end of the fork. All I could think about was my lost camera.
Suddenly I was aware of a new taste sensation. It was delicious! I observed my uneaten food to deduce what was in my mouth. Good heavens! It was a brussels sprout.
My cherished childhood belief, “brussels sprouts are yucky,” melted into oblivion as I chewed.
This realization served me well for many years as I created more intense versions of the lost camera story—lost dreams, lost confidence, lost purpose, lost loves. I always understood that, even awash in despair, I could choose something nice.
It was many years before I stumbled across any dramatic insights that were half as useful. When I did, they came in rapid succession and were the result of taking The Avatar Course. Ultimately I knew that even the despair was a choice I was making.
What if you could deliberately shift your attention from one thing to another in any situation? What would you experience? What if you could deliberately remove a limiting belief about something (an event, a person, an ability) and experience it anew from a fresh perspective of your choice? What would you choose to experience?
I say my journey began with a brussels sprout. It was one of the events that led me to take Avatar where I found spinach and broccoli were on the menu too! Avatar invited me to pull up a captain’s chair to the table of life, peruse the menu with a keen eye and tackle those vegetables! It has led to the ultimate in fine dining. Bon apetit!Suzanne Richter, Chicago, IL
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