"I have no idea why I said these words. They just popped out of my mouth, seemingly of their own volition.
"Janet, you'll never believe this. To my absolute astonishment, the woman looked at me, stood up with tears in her eyes and said, 'My God, you're right! My own thoughts are creating much of my unhappiness.' Then she kept repeating over and over again how wonderful it was to finally see that she was unknowingly causing a lot of her own problems. As she talked, she threw her arms around my neck and began to sob uncontrollably. I was so disarmed by her response that I didn't know what to say. I hadn't said anything that would create such a reaction, at least not that I was aware of. As she gradually regained control, she kept saying through her tears, 'It's such a relief, I'm so relieved.'
"I asked her if she could possibly tell me what I had said to her that was getting her so excited. To my utter amazement, she explained to me that she had just realized she had been holding old grudges and ill feelings against her father for many years. She said she had suddenly recognized that her habit of judging people was connected with her anger toward her father, and that her negative feelings had spilled over to her poor husband and children. She asked again and again, 'Why didn't anyone tell me before that my own thoughts were responsible for most of my anxieties and mental stress?'
"I sat behind my desk, astonished by her behavior, wondering what had happened. I just couldn't put my finger on anything I had said that would account for her insight and breakthrough.
"Totally bewildered, I asked her again what I had said that was creating such a reaction. The second time she explained it in the following way: 'Don't you remember? You just explained to me that my own thoughts have been creating a great many of my problems.'
"Here I was, the therapist, and I didn't know what my own client was talking about. Immediately, I thought about the old gardener and wondered if it was possible for him to know something that I hadn't been taught in grad school. It certainly appeared so. I tell you, chills ran up my spine as I tried to ascertain just what was happening."
"I'm getting chills right now," Janet said. "I'm all goosebumps."
Tom asked scornfully, "Are you trying to tell us that just because your client heard you say that some of her problems were created from her thoughts, she is under the illusion that she has found the answer to a dysfunctional life pattern that was established during her childhood?"
"Yes, but it's not an illusion," I countered. "The amazing part of all this is that the visit we're talking about took place nearly a year ago, and to date Mrs. Taylor is still a very happy, loving person, with absolutely none of her old symptoms. She is off her medication and even looks 10 years younger than she did the day I first saw her."
"Unbelievable," Tom scoffed. "I've never seen such a spontaneous recovery in all my years of practice. You were lucky, that's all. It must have been a one in a million fluke to help a client with such an obvious technique. Have you ever tried it again?"
"Tom, it's not a technique," I said quietly. "As I've already said, I no longer believe in techniques. And, in answer to your question, yes! I've successfully helped many of my patients by talking about how their own thoughts are responsible for their perception of life."
With his usual penetrating intellectual astuteness, Peter asked, "If what you say is correct, why hasn't the field taught this theory?"
I could only shrug. "I don't know, Peter."
"As a therapist, I find what you are saying ridiculous and very difficult to believe," Tom fumed.
"Believe it or not, Tom, I'm telling you the truth."
Janet chimed in, "Do you really believe this is the reason you have been having such success in your practice?"
"Most definitely. Even after so many years in the field, it wasn't until I listened to the old gardener that I finally started to realize how our minds and thoughts—working together—observe and relate to the realities in which we live. To date I haven't figured out how it all works, but the results in my clients are indisputable."
"I've never heard such a preposterous story," Tom protested. "Surely with all the brilliant professors and researchers throughout the world, we would have heard about such a simple theory if it actually worked."
Janet was intently studying my face. "Eric, you really do believe what you're saying, don't you?"
"Yes I do, Janet. I'm absolutely serious."
Still skeptical, Peter couldn't help sounding a bit intrigued. "I wonder if that old gardener of yours still works at this hotel?"
"I don't know," I replied. "But I hope so. For more than a year, I've been looking forward to meeting and talking with him again."
"If I didn't know you better," Janet chuckled, "I would think you've had one too many to drink."
"Think what you like, Janet. But never before have I seen such results. I've seen couples who were ready for divorce heal their relationships practically before my eyes. Months later they tell me how wonderful their lives and marriages have become, just because they realized that many of their problems were directly created from their own innocently misguided thoughts. I honestly believe I've stumbled onto something that is well worth pursuing further."
"I knew your practice had been expanding," Peter said. "To be honest with you, I couldn't figure out why. This whole story is intriguing. Tell us more about what it is that you think you've found."
At that, Tom abruptly stood up and snapped, "Personally, I think you're all talking a bunch of utter nonsense!" He then stormed away, obviously disturbed by the entire conversation.
"Whew!" Peter whispered. "I wonder what's bothering Tom? I've never seen him so upset."
Janet quietly explained to us that Tom had been going through a lot lately. His divorce had just been finalized and he'd been drinking to excess. In fact, his partner had threatened that if Tom didn't do something about his alcohol problem, he would have to leave their practice. "Apart from that," she concluded, "well, you know Tom. He quite often suffers from a severe case of righteous indignation, especially when he's had a few drinks."
Peter shook his head. "No wonder he's so touchy lately. I didn't know the poor guy was going through so much."
Changing the subject back to what the gardener had said about Mind and Thought, Janet recalled that one of her professors in college had almost burst a blood vessel when one of her classmates had asked him whether there was a correlation between our thoughts and our behavior. "If I remember correctly, the professor actually informed her that if she continued to ask such ridiculous questions, she would undoubtedly fail the course. If he were here now, that professor would react like Tom and dismiss everything you have told us as total nonsense. Come to think of it, Tom and my professor share the same negative outlook and behavior in life."
Laughing, Peter suggested, "It must be their thoughts that are holding them back." He then advised us not to take my gardener friend too seriously. "Honestly, Eric," he laughed, "you're describing the kind of experiences that I'd expect to find written up in 'Ripley's Believe It or Not.'"
"I don't know, Peter," Janet mused. "A similar idea has come into my mind from time to time, but I've never actually formulated it into a theory—nor have I ever heard of it in practice before now."
"If we were to take a closer look at the situation," I suggested to Peter and Janet, "we would see that most of our research to date has been descriptive. We have observed people acting in certain ways and then labeled these behaviors. We often assumed the cause of their problems was located in their past or in their genetic make-up. As far as I know, we haven't looked for the deeper source of all these distinct behaviors in the realm of thought."