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SWITCH ON
TO YOUR INNER STRENGTH
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SWITCH ON
TO YOUR INNER STRENGTH
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by
Sandy MacGregor
Copyright © 1996 Sandy MacGregor
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism, review or as otherwise permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission of the author.
First published in Australia April 1996
Published by
CALM PTY LTD (ACN 060 570 818)
PO Box 482, Lindfield NSW 2070, Australia.
Telephone: (02) 439 7188 Facsimile: (02) 439 7587
E Mail – [email protected]
Internet Home Page – www.lightenup.com.au/calm
Printed and Bound by
Southwood Press Pty Limited
80-92 Chapel Street, Marrickville, NSW, 2204
Distributed in Australia by
Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty Ltd
2/13 Carrington Road, Castle Hill, NSW 2154
Tapes and Videos Distributed in Australia by
Quest Pty Limited
Theosophy House, 484 Kent Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Distributed in New Zealand by
Tandem Press
Rugby Road, Birkenhead, Auckland 10
ISBN 0 646 27568 2
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DEDICATION
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To Andrew Robert MacGregor, my son born on 9th November 1964, to whom I am constantly grateful. Andrew has been a tower of strength to me, particularly when I needed him and as I look back on my life so far, I realise just how much I have learned from him and how he has actually inspired me towards my present life's purpose.
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CONTENTS
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Foreword by David Mason-Jones 9
Chapter 1 Switching to Inner Strength 13
Chapter 2 Pathway to the Present 27
Chapter 3 Letting Go 47
Chapter 4 Building Your Peaceful Place 57
Chapter 5 How Self Talk Affects Us 73
Chapter 6 How to Handle Pain 90
Chapter 7 Influencing Health and Healing 100
Chapter 8 Meditating – a Practical Approach 122
Chapter 9 Forgiving – Are There Benefits? 130
Chapter 10 The Importance of Love in Your Life 143
Chapter 11 Ken Marslew's Cry – Enough is Enough 153
Chapter 12 Discovering Your Creativity 162
Chapter 13 Exploring Uses 179
Chapter 14 David Benedikt – A Survivor Tells 188
Chapter 15 Enhancing Inner Strength 201
Chapter 16 Where the Margins Fade 208
Chapter 17 Time to Review 228
Chapter 18 Where to From Here? 237
Appendix A Peaceful Place Books, Tapes and Videos 245
Appendix B CALM Seminars 252
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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David Mason-Jones did far more than write the Foreword to this book. He is a friend from Army days who uses his Inner Strength. Thank you David for your professional advice, writing, editing and ideas that have been incorporated in this book. Your energy has been invaluable.
My wife Sandra has spent many hours reading, typing, suggesting and putting up with me ... I am always grateful for her interest, help and support.
Michael Burge, now departed, and his former wife Kathryn for introducing me to Insight Seminars and for being around in my time of need.
Thank you to David Hammer for his counsel and guidance with the name “Switch On” and the cover of this book.
Adrian Emery who at his Sennikatan paradise retreat in the Blue Mountains encouraged me with my idea for this book and offered suggestions after reading the manuscript.
Thank you to everyone who has so generously shared their personal experiences of inner strength and allowed me to use them in this book so that others may benefit.
My heartfelt appreciation to all those who have contributed to this book by attending my seminars, joining in the discussions and helping me along my own journey of learning and growth.
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FOREWORD
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When Sandy was a young cadet at Duntroon, the Military College where he was educated, he learnt one of the most important maxims of leadership theory. It was drummed into his head over and over for the four student years he spent there. The words were, “Never ask a soldier to do something which you would not be prepared to do yourself.”
Sandy lived by this rule when he became a Tunnel Rat in South Vietnam in 1965. On arrival, as the man in charge of the first Australian Engineers sent to that conflict, Sandy found that the standard procedure for the American forces was to just blow up the entrances to tunnels when they were found. Up until then no one had done the unthinkable – that is, nobody had gone down the tunnels after the enemy.
Sandy knew this had to change.
When Australian troops found the entrance to tunnels in War Zone D in October 1965 Sandy saw the chance to send our men down there. But who to send first??
For Sandy the answer was simple and, armed with a 9mm pistol in one hand, a bayonet in the other, and a rope tied around his ankles in case he was killed or wounded, he went in! After this feat of leadership it became common for Sandy's men to go into the tunnels and this yielded a rich reward of documents, weapons and other supplies. Sandy had led from the front and it was reasonable that his men would do things which he had shown by example.
But that was all a long time ago and far removed from Sandy's life now, in which he teaches people about learning techniques, thinking skills and the deliberate use of their inner strength.
The important thing about what he teaches now is that he still leads from the front! And the example of leadership he has given us in his personal life