From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 6 - May 1992
 
Mental Reconstruction - in theory and practice
By Leonard Dunn, England

There is an aspect of positive thinking that I have often practised 
but not actually written about in detail. I concerns areas which, 
despite generally good application of thought, have not turned out as 
well as one would have wished. I have mentioned elsewhere that such 
things can, in retrospect, be seen to have been what one actually 
needed. This, however, can be handled better at the time of the 
unwanted effect occurring by what we might term "reconstruction," 
although it could be called by any other name that seems appropriate.

In essence, this is to think, and preferably visualise too, a 
positive alternative to the apparently negative happening. The main 
value of this is that it can relieve doubts and fears and thus enable 
the positive flow to continue without the tendency to mistrust and 
doubt the basic principles of positive thought - which may well occur 
when one is not too experienced in the system. It means that what one 
considers to be at the least undesirable and at the worst disasterous 
can be converted into a step towards the achievement of one's goals 
or as something more valuable to one's spiritual developement.

The need for Reconstruction

I think that I first came to a realisation of this subject, not at 
the time, but in retrospect, some years after my wife left her body. 
A good friend was a great help to me in those years but, for no 
rational or logical reason, although it was evident that there was 
some reactivity at work, suddenly broke off our relationship. This 
was a great shock to me.

A few months after this, when my articles in <MI>Reconnection<D>, the 
English Independent scientology journal of that time, were translated 
and published in Denmark, they came to the attention of a German lady 
living in Copenhagen at that time. She wrote to me and a long 
correspondence began. From this it eventually became evident that she 
was in great need of help and a safe environment in which to live for 
a time in peace and quietness. This I was able to provide.

In course of time she recovered her full health and ability to cope 
with life again. Mainly by her own efforts, it must be said. Things 
were often not all that pleasant for either of us during this period 
but afterwards we both acknowledged that this had been a very 
valuable experience for both of us. Since then, there have been ups 
and downs in our relationship but currently we are very good friends 
indeed. This, of course, is a very brief summary of the situation.

Looking back, I realized the necessity for the end of the other 
relationship in order that this second one could take place. If at 
the time of the loss of my friend I had been able to reconstruct the 
happening in the way outlines above, then I would have been a much 
happier person but this, in itself, was a very neccessary and 
worthwhile lesson to me as it widened my understanding that bit more. 

Reconstruction in Action

The fact that one creates a better alternative way of looking at an 
incident does not mean of necessit, that this is the true answer to 
the problem. It is just that one puts a different interpretation to 
suit the needs ot the moment. the final result may be very different 
from one's reconstruction of the preceeding event. It prevents a 
negative thought flow from taking place and badly effecting the final 
outcome. As I have said so often, the strongest and most persistent 
thought is the one that is going to act and produce its own final 
end. It treats the current situation positively and that is all that 
matters.

Let me take an actual current example. A good friend of mine has been 
in this country for two years after being born here and then moving 
to Zimbabwe at the age of two. She has been driving for twenty years 
without any sort of blot on her licence. Recently she had, without 
perceiving it, a malfunctioning headlight and was stopped by the 
Police. She had to take her licence to the Police Station where she 
was told that this Zimbabwean licence was out of date and should be 
replaced by a British one - something that neither she nor her 
husband were aware of. Had she been out of the country at any time in 
the last year this licence would have been granted without question. 
As she hadn't, she now has to take driving lessons and pass a new 
driving test. Sheer bureaucracuy! Needless to say, she was not 
pleased at this unpleasant turn of events.

Using this idea of reconstruction, I suggested to her that it might 
be that having to do this might be something that could prevent her 
from being involved in an accident in the future. In actual practice, 
her driving instructor told her that she had certain habits that 
would not be accepted by an examiner. She now sees the apparently 
negative incident in a positive light and is pleased to be able to 
correct her outnesses.

Fortune - "Good" and "Bad"

The chinese had the idea that both good and bad fortune were subject 
to a "perhaps". In other words, that they might not be all that they 
seemed to be. By way of example let us take the following series of 
events. A man is in extreme poverty, he unexpectedly inherits a house 
and a large sum of money - good fortune? After moving into his new 
house his wife falls down the stairs and is killed so there is great 
grief - bad fortune? The news of the accident appears in the local 
paper and a girl friend of his younger days who had declined his 
offer of marriage, had married another and was now a widow, writes to 
him. They get together and marry - good fortune? Perhaps. So it goes 
on.

Past incidents in one's life

Many of us have had things happen in the past which have never been 
satisfactorily resolved. Here a slightly different aspect of 
reconstruction can be used. This was part of the 8c tech that I had 
back in 1954. This was to create mental image pictures (Mock-ups) of 
the way that one would have liked the incident to have ended and 
continue until End Phenomena - floating needle, very good indicators, 
etc. I have found that it worked very well on me, Mockups can also be 
used to create desireable situations, but not using a specific human 
terminal since this is unethical without the person's consent.

Letting go

A very difficult thing for many people is being able and willing to 
let go off anything and everything. We tend to become very attached 
to terminals of any sort. Not being willing to let go means that we 
are still involved in the must have / can't have trap. Being willing 
to let go so often means that one doesn't have to, whereas the 
reverse will very often bring about the opposite to that which is 
desired.

With regard to "traps", these are only effective if one considers 
them to be so. Geffrey Filbert in <MI>Excalibur Revisited<D> says 
that there are people who don't consider earth to be a trap and that, 
in consequence, they have a very enjoyable time here! I'm one of 
them!

The Power of Thought

This is more or less a footnote for those who are new to this concept 
of Positive Thinking. A friend with whom I am working in regard to 
this subject is finding things are going so well that she is afraid 
that this is too good to be true and that something not desired will 
be bound to come up. The very good reason for this is that there 
seems to be a law in regard to the physical universe that every win 
will produce a loss, although not necessarily of the same degree. The 
reverse is also true.

It should be recognised, however, that this is not true in the world 
of the spirit. Thought is in the world, so one can continue to expect 
one's wins in regard to what one has created by thought to be 
constant.

Freedom

The ultimate goal of all this is to be free. Not just free from, or 
free to,but just <MI>free.<D> Believe me, that is a really lovely 
state to be in and some of us have actually achieved this in a very 
large measure right now at this present time. May you all do 
likewise.