The Neverending Story, Changed My World

Growing up in a small property in Washington, I spent a lot of my time in nature, bike navigation, hiking, jar rocks in the river, and making forts out of hunger needles. But I was always keenly moved by good stories including movies that told a without reservation good story. When I was about six years senescent I scrutinize the book " The Neverending Story, " by Michael Ende, and my life was forever changed. I in truth believed that I was Bastian, ( the protogonist of the story ) and that I was further Atreyu ( besides the protagonist ), the Warrior on a quest to save the Princess, the princess was also very real to me, I felt female represented a part of me, my truest nature. So you see, all of these characters were not just ' characters, ' they were alive, and real! They spoke to me as a six year old and changed my life! I felt that this was " my story, " that I had to learn to stand up for what I believed in! It did not matter that the protagonists were male, and that I am female, I connected to them on a subconscious and conscious level. Deep in my psyche, I believed this was MY journey.

I grew up with parents that meant well, but through the years and time spent together, trying to raise a family, they grew more and more distant and could not get along. In the end, their relationship imploded - - meaning the relationship collapsed inward in a pretty violent manner emotionally. And no one came out of it unscathed. In 1992 - we moved to Southern California, my parents divorced and I was again flung into a new school, with new people and having no friends. The last five years had been a complete nightmare, and I didn ' t know what to believe anymore. I was lost, scared, alone and pretty angry going into my teen years. Again, I turned to this story to help me move onward.

I don ' t really know how I made it through those years, but I never forgot how much that story meant to me. I would watch the movie over and over again, realizing that in the end it was about sheer determination and will to survive and to reach the " castle, " the Princess. Metaphorically this was my highest potential, to rule over my own life and my own thoughts, without letting the world, or the negativity around me, get me down for too long. The " Neverending Story " reminded me to keep the faith, let go of doubt and fear; be brave and to remember that the heart and soul ' s quest has ' no boundaries ' just as Fantasia had no boundaries! I could still dream and with the right help, I would reach my goals! I could chose a new path, I could make my ' fantasies ' a reality by grounding them in truth, love and passion for helping mankind.

Living now in the " Information / Technology " age where computers, and gadgets have taken over our everyday life, I want to make one recommendation, DO NOT EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STORY! Stories like " The Neverending Story, " saved me from complete denial of life and of the " self. " There are many stories that affected me as a child and still affect me, this is just one, but it was so powerful because of it ' s metaphor and meaning. I am forever grateful to writers and ' dreamers ' for sharing their talents with the world.

The World ' s Most Powerful Hypnotist - The Story Of Paul Mckenna

The world famous hypnotist Paul McKenna was born in Middlesex, United Scepter on November the 6th 1963. Since in consequence he has become a best selling author and one of England ' s most famous sons.

Paul McKenna die laughing onto a world stage with his " The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna " television series. The fireworks had celebrities play roles in absurd scenarios adjoining some audience members that Paul McKenna had hypnotized.

However Paul McKenna is now best published for his far-reaching array of books, hypnosis audio and multimedia products. Paul McKenna has hosted a multitude of television shows ranging from the " Paranormal World of Paul McKenna " locale he investigated the dreadful and wondrous to " Paul McKenna Can Make You Thin " when he used the British public as subjects in his weight loss program!

Paul McKenna tours frequently not only with his hypnotic shows but also presenting seminars in his weight loss program and neuro - linguistic programming.

At the age of 16 Paul McKenna began his career by taking a job at a local retail store as a DJ. Seven years later he was working as a radio DJ with a promising career ahead of him.

It was the time that Paul McKenna was working as a DJ that he developed a fascination with hypnosis. After a guest on his radio show demonstrated how hypnosis could be used for relaxation Paul McKenna was hooked. Soon he was using it for his own personal development and found that he had a natural gift for it.

Soon Paul McKenna had progressed to using his newly acquired hypnotic skills to entertain in pubs and clubs. Having a natural aptitude for hypnosis Paul McKenna found himself with requests for hypnotherapy sessions on a one - on - one basis.

During this time Paul McKenna found employment with the biggest radio station in Britain by getting a spot on Radio One as his DJ skills were becoming more recognised. However, Paul McKenna wanted to pursue hypnosis and didn ' t stay long.

This was a wise choice for McKenna because in 1993 the British channel ITV aired his first hypnotic show which became so popular it was seen in 42 countries.

Paul McKenna was an instant hit as a stage hypnotist but never forgot the self improvement benefits of hypnosis. He created the McKenna Breen Ltd company with Michael Breen which produced seminars on nlp and hypnosis as well as a tape set. This was to be his first taste of product creation.

In 2006, after a British paper, Daily Mail, alleged that Paul McKenna had obtained a bogus PhD so he could defraud the public, he sued them and received substantial damages.

The Daily Mail was referring to a PhD Paul McKenna was awarded by LaSalle University which thousands of students thought was accredited but was not. All the students, Paul McKenna included, were awarded compensation by the US Government!

In addition to McKenna being an unknowing participant in the La Salle saga the daily Mirror did not point out that he had already attained another United Kingdom accredited doctorate in 2004 for the work carried out on " The Effects of Fixed Action Patterns and Neuro - Linguistic Programming in Determining Outcomes in Human Behaviour "!

Unbroken A World War Ii Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption

It should have been a " milk tear, " now the military put it at the time locus a bomber was to fly a search traverse and if it failed in that search the bomber gamy back to base.

It was to have been due to simple in that that for Louie Zamperini. He was fit into his youth when he realized that he was rapidly on his feet, through in Olympics rapidly. He performed in the twin Olympics station Jesse Owens put scuttle to the rumors that Germans were the " most perfect relay " of people on the planet because African - American Owens beat the vaunted German Olympic bunch four times on alley and field.

Zamperini ' s expert was on the alley stage he went on to work as part of the U. S. wrecking crew that showed the world just how " pure " and " strong " the supposed " Aryan superman " was. German athletes were simply athletes who could perform better than most. However, they certainly weren ' t supermen, as Hitler would have had the world believe.

Indeed, Zamperini was on the way to becoming the first runner to break the four - minute mile when a small ruckus intervened. It was World War II and Zamperini, being a patriot, joined the Army Air Corps and became a bombardier. His first action says Laura Hillenbrand, best - selling author and biographer of the bandy - legged colt named Seabiscuit, as well as Zamperini ' s biographer resulted in a bomber whose crew was pretty much shot to pieces with wounds all over and more than 600 bullet holes in the fuselage.

Zamperini was based in Oahu in the Hawaiian chain and spent 1942 and 43 flying special missions. It was on one of those missions that his bomber was shot down and forced to ditch. The next 47 harrowing days would have been a tale in themselves as the small yellow life raft was constantly circled by sharks, some of which even tried climbing aboard the life raft to drag their victims out.

They not only survived that fish tale, but also a strafing run by a Japanese warplane and a typhoon whose 40 - foot seas tossed them around like a cork.

Thinking the worst was behind them, the airmen saw an island in the distance and, using the last of their strength, pulled on the life raft ' s oars for it, only to find, only to find the Japanese waiting there in ambush. That was the beginning of Louie Zamperini ' s problems as he was put in a unit controlled by a wanton sadist, who enjoyed inflicting slow pain on his charges.

The one thing you can see about Louie is that he never gave up. It was a hellish three years in captivity, but he did make it and on his arrival home, he married and then began to fight his demons again, this time by himself.

No one knew what PTSD ( post traumatic stress disease ) was and no one knew how to cure it. It took some serious consequences for Louie and his wife Cynthia before they began to work on his problem and bring him back from the limb he was on.

Hillenbrand ' s biography of Louie Zamperini brings every part of the years before the war, his years as a flight hero and then as a heroic POW. It did take her eight years to get all of the information and put it into order and then work her literary magic. That ' s the beauty of Hillenbrand ' s work; it seems effortless when you read it that is the mark of a good writer. The more seamless the writing, the better the writer and Hillenbrand has even bettered herself in the work on Zamperini. After Seabiscuit, one wondered if there was more than just one great book in the writer and with this book about Louis Zamperini, Hillenbrand has earned the title great.