NLP for the Holidays

One of the most useful applications of NLP is to change your internal state. This is especially helpful when you must interact with relatives in close quarters for a minute, an hour, an afternoon, an evening. Thanksgiving is a good test site for being at ease with people who irritate you. Different world views when squashed together at family dinners can ruin your appetite. Biting your tongue isn't the best strategy. A much more effective behavior is to shift from judgement ("You're stupid, ignornant, mis-guided, wrong, crazy, rigid, dumb, etc) to CURIOUSITY. Ask a question to find out where the other dinner guest or relative acquired this particular world view. Listen without judgement. Whether it's about Bush, Cheney, Iraq, Afganistan, the English aristocracy, the draft, the gasoline tax, the role of grass in medicine, the difference in opinion is a great place for you to practice remaining calm, cool, and collected while others are ranting about subjects that you know more about and have a different opinion. This ability to create and maintain your own internal state will keep you healthy, wealth-ier , and wise. You won't need Tums. You can enjoy those obnoxious family members.