Illuminating Our Dark Side

Written by Eugene Morgan “If you are uncertain about something, you tend to avoid it.” Milton Erickson Uncertainty is another word for doubt.  Doubting is another form of not knowing.  We don’t know how we will react to something revealed to us that’s unknown. When we fear the unknown, our fears begin to grow.  It […]

“I win Olympic Championships”

Written by Eugene Morgan “Out of a wheelchair I win Olympic championships all the time.” Milton Erickson As you can see from most of Erickson’s quotes, he’s good at turning a phrase. It’s interesting how he links “a wheelchair” with winning “olympic championships” together. The message he wants us to get is that in spite […]

Feel with the Finger, the Heart, and the Mind

Written by Eugene Morgan “We do not just feel with the fingers, but with the heart, the mind.” Milton Erickson Erickson is reminding us that we feel with our heart as well as our mind. The heart is generally a metaphor of our emotions. Therefore, we feel our emotions. Our minds identify the emotions based […]

Seeds of Ideas

Written by Eugene Morgan “There is nothing more delightful than planting flower seeds and not knowing what kind of flowers are going to come up.” Milton Erickson Erickson enjoyed planting seeds of ideas to his patients, students and subjects to get them into another training of thought.  When we get stuck into certain train of […]

We Appraise Things we Learn

Written by Eugene Morgan “And all of our days we are learning things-learning how to appraise them, how to assess them, how to feel about them.” Milton Erickson When we watch an event unfold before our eyes, we tend to automatically appraise the event based on our background experiences.  How much value we put into […]

Fearing Little is the Only Way Out

Written By Eugene Morgan “And what do you need to fear? Very little that you need to fear.” Milton Erickson Fear is a feeling. Fear saves lives. Fear is paralyzing. Fear speaks the truth about something. Fear speaks lies, too. Our assumptions about things can fuel a fear. Fear, if not felt, is projecting into […]

Athlete with signs of Potential

Written by Eugene Morgan “Little is really known of the actual potentials of human functioning.” Milton Erickson Erickson is correct that we don’t know how far we can go with our potentials.  We don’t know our actual potential until it is fully developed.  We can’t find out what those potentials are until we do something. […]

Today Was Once Tomorrow

Written By Eugene Morgan “People always have that tendency to put off working on a problem to tomorrow,” Milton Erickson. Working on a problem isn’t always fun and games. When we put off working on a problem, it stays in front of us. It never leaves our sight. It hovers around the top of our […]

“But You Do Like Reality”

Written Eugene Morgan “You don’t want a charming movie to end, you don’t want a flower to wilt, but you do like reality.” Milton Erickson Sometimes, we like to keep our fantasies alive.  In fact, some of us would rather live inside our heads. We create fantasies because we are trying to fulfill an unmet […]

Diversity and Acceptance

Written by Eugene Morgan “I think the faults that you recall in human beings give their charm to that individual that enable you to recognize and remember that individuals,” Milton Erickson No one is perfect.  We all come in different shapes, sizes and colors.  Perfection is an internal standard that blinds us from what is […]

Claim Our Independence

Written by Eugene Morgan “When one knows the boundaries, restrictions and limitations that governs them he is free to utilize satisfactorily whatever is available.” Milton Erickson Today is Independence Day.  This is a time to celebrate our Independence, not just with our country but ourselves.  When we started learning how to walk, we were on […]

Reconcile To the Unfairness of Life

Written By Eugene Morgan “I had to learn to reconcile myself to the unfairness of life,” Milton Erickson Life is not always fair and we must reconcile ourselves of this truism.  If we put  effort into something, then a reward should come our way.  If we give or make sacrifices for the greater good we should […]

Very Charming Stuff, Capacity

Written By Eugene Morgan “It’s very charming, the capacity that we have if we’ll only learn to use other areas of our brain.” Milton Erickson   When we begin to use other areas of our brain, our ability to do things increases.  What do we suppose what other areas of our brain is Erickson taking […]

Enjoy Your Discoveries

Written By Eugene Morgan “I always enjoy discovery what I can do.” Milton H. Erickson We have many potentials that we’re unaware of that we have not yet discovered.  The possibility is that they lie beneath each of us to discover.  We won’t know what lies beneath if we don’t try new things.  When we […]

Building Up Your Pyramid

Written By Eugene Morgan   “If people can build the pyramids and Machu Picchu, they can do anything.” Milton Erickson The people who build the pyramids and the lost city of Machu Picchu were remarkable. They seem to be beyond their years of building great monument like a pyramid.  What kind of people were they […]

Crack Open Your Shell To Share Your Uniqueness

Written by Eugene Morgan “And remember always that you’re unique. And all that you have to do is let people see that you are you.” Milton Erickson How come some of us are afraid to share our real selves?  Wearing a mask can get uncomfortable.  It takes a lot more energy to wear one and […]

“Enough In the Way of Bad Luck…”

Written by Eugene Morgan “Enough in the way of bad luck can occur, so that you don’t need to add it yourself.” Milton Erickson What makes matter worse is when we start to panic about something, instead of taking a deep breath and relaxing for a moment. Erickson is telling us in the above quote […]

Thinking For The Self

Written by Eugene Morgan “But meditation is thinking for the self, by the self, and thinking freely and easily; what the self has to offer for the self.” Milton Erickson Meditation is about focusing in our internal world.  If we ever saw someone meditate, more likely it’s a person with shut eyes.  When we close […]

Creativity Can Free Us From Our Biases

Written By Eugene Morgan “People who accomplish a great many things are people who have freed themselves from biases,” Milton Erickson You can’t force creativity but we can let it come to us.  It’s important to have a certain mindset so we can see things beyond our biases.  We  first must acknowledge or admit to […]

Observation is the key to Objectivity

Written by Eugene Morgan “When you look at things, look at them,” Milton Erickson It is easy to either jump to conclusions or make assumptions about things without looking at them.  We tend to quickly based our experiences on the event first before really seeing what’s happening. If we really look at things and let […]