What Label Describes You?

Labels are limiting. That's the topic for this Week's Grasshopper Notes essay from John Morgan for the week of March 30th.

 Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

Find the written versions of these podcasts on John's podcasting site: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1628038

"The Grasshopper" is the part of you that whispers pearls of wisdom that  seem to pop into your mind from out of the blue. John's essays and blog posts are his interpretations of these "Nips of Nectar." Others have labeled his writings as timeless wisdom. 

Most of the John's writings revolve around self improvement and self help. They address topics like:

• Mindfulness
• Peace of mind
• Creativity
• How to stay in the present moment
• Spirituality
• Behavior improvement

And stories that transform you to a wider sense of awareness that presents more options. And isn't that what we all want, more options? 

John uploads these podcasts on a regular basis. So check back often to hear these podcasts heard around the world. Who wants to be the next person to change? 

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Transcript

What Label Describes You?

Have you labeled yourself? Has someone else labeled you? The answer to both questions is "yes."

But here's the raw reality: You are not that label. You’re not who you profess to be, nor are you the bumper sticker others have given you.

If you define yourself with a label, you have mislabeled who you are.

Just notice how often people argue about a label that’s been ascribed to them. They are correct. They’re not that label.  

We name things in an attempt to order our world. When everything fits into our neat little box, we are satisfied with the world order. When they don’t fit, which is most of the time, we rail against reality.

Labeling yourself or someone else goes counter to what is: namely that you can’t be accurately named. 

It reminds me of the teaching of Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: "The Tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao." It was his way of saying that the Tao (the way) is an intuitive truth, not one you can understand by logic and labeling.

Danish theologian Kierkegaard said, "Once you label me, you negate me." The inference being, that labeling someone reduces them to a meager definition. It restricts their humanity and their ability to change.

Now here’s the good news: When you discover what’s underneath all the labels, you reach a place where all the naming ceases.

Prove it to yourself. Just think back on a moment in your life when your breath was taken away by something. In that moment, you weren’t labeling the experience; you were inside it.

All labeling happens after the experience. It’s how our brain works. The label is not the experience. If you don’t believe that, try eating the menu the next time you’re out to dinner. 

You may not like that you’re not the magnificent or disparaging label you’ve given yourself or others have bestowed upon you. That’s like liking or not liking the Tooth Fairy. He/she's not real and neither are your labels.

So the recommendation is this. Start peeling your labels off one-by-one and begin to experience the vibrant life beneath your life story. 

It’s there that you'll discover what that schoolyard ditty really meant: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me."

All the best,

John