How to Use Harry Potter to Teach Your Children About Bravery
Harry Potter provides the perfect antidote to the seriousness
that engulfs our children as they become young adults. Whether
we are doing it intentionally or not, our children learn to
believe what we believe because they watch what we do even more
than listen to what we say.In this article, Dr. Kuhn teaches you
how to use a lesson his son stumbled upon.
If a child's fun comes naturally why do they quickly learn to be
afraid as they grow older? We adults are responsible. We, of
course, are merely teaching our children the "rules" as we were
taught; passing along our fears to our children comes as
naturally for us as being too serious (and being too serious, in
turn, comes from our fear).
Watch children. Left to their own devices a child's fun comes
naturally, they are not inclined to be afraid. We instill it in
them. I'm not referring to being afraid to cross a street, touch
a hot iron, or play with matches. Those are good, healthy fears
that our children need. The fear I refer to is the illusionary
variety; fears like scarcity, failure, and unworthiness only
exist in our mind and, therefore, are only real if we decide
they are.
Seriousness Holds Us All Back...and Eventually Kills Us
Fear is the root cause of the single greatest debilitating force
in our society - seriousness. Seriousness is all about taking
yourself too seriously and it is a deadly habit deeply
ingrained, unfortunately, in a majority of our society. The
major symptom of seriousness is stress and, to be convinced, one
only need see that over 80% of all doctor's appointments are now
stress related. In fact every major disease plaguing western
civilization (depression, heart disease, high blood pressure,
chronic pain, obesity, arthritis, cancer, etc.) is directly
related to stress.
Fortunately, my decades of research and medical practice have
identified the single most effect treatment for seriousness -
The Fun Factor. My own experience with The Fun Factor has
revealed the deceivingly simple but powerful nature of this
lifesaving tool. I have helped patients use The Fun Factor for
decades, with results people rave about. I now share The Fun
Factor with people all over the world. Its rapid success formula
is just what the doctor ordered.
My son, Greg, has become an expert with my unique prescription,
The Fun Factor, using it to banish the killer seriousness that
fear produces. Free from seriousness, he is employing fun to
escape the illusionary fears that have haunted him since young
adulthood. Just as it did for me, The Fun Factor has opened
doors of opportunity that he never dreamed possible. Primarily
the opportunity to live a life of love, hope, and abundance
instead of a life of fear and seriousness.
Greg, in turn, wants to pass the gift of The Fun Factor to his
three children - my grandchildren. Recently, my grandchildren's
love of the Harry Potter book series gave Greg a great idea that
his sons have embraced. I hope this report will help you
introduce this concept from Harry Potter just as Greg has done.
Imagine the successful life that awaits a child who has grown up
with the keys to escape having seriousness and fear instilled in
them!
How Can Harry Potter Teach Us About The Fun Factor?
In the third Harry Potter book we are introduced to scary
creatures called Dementors. Dementors are as frightening as
their name implies. Invisible apparitions capable of more than
merely haunting you; Dementors will suck out your soul, leaving
you worse than dead. Don't Harry Potter's Dementors sound just
like our illusionary fears? Our fears haunt us just like
Dementors, appearing without invitation and leaving us
despondent and immobilized.
Also in the third Potter book, Harry Potter learns a powerful
spell called the Patronus, which is capable of chasing away
Dementors. When Harry chants the incantation and thinks a
positive, happy thought, a beautiful, helpful spirit appears
from his magic wand to banish whatever Dementors are bothering
him. Harry's ability to conjure powerful Patronus' increases the
more he practices this spell.
Doesn't Harry Potter's spell remind you of how I teach you to
use the powerful natural medicine of humor? In The Fun Factor, I
reveal not only your power and ability to think positive
thoughts, but also your responsibility to do so. As you learn to
use your humor nature to develop positive attitudes, you are,
literally, conjuring a Patronus to dispel your seriousness and
fear. Harry Potter's Patronus is a real thing!
It's Easy to Use Harry Potter's Magic
As adults we can revel in two pieces of great news:
We cannot hold two conflicting thoughts simultaneously.
Since our fears and seriousness are illusions, we can easily
replace those thoughts if we choose to.
As a child's fun exemplifies, wouldn't you love to live a life
where fear and seriousness didn't dictate your choices and
decisions? Learning to use more productive and effective
attributes like your sense of humor, self-awareness, and
imagination is as simple as using The Fun Factor. As simple as
deciding to change what you're thinking about on a
moment-to-moment basis. Are you willing to conjure Harry
Potter's Patronus today rather than suffer from a haunting,
immobilizing, and imaginary fear?
You know from past experience that a Patronus is a real thing,
in the sense that a positive attitude dispels a negative
outlook. What a gift you can give to supercharge your child's
fun by teaching him/her this skill at an early age! And Harry
Potter is a great, and easy, way to do it.
The Introduction of the Harry Potter Lesson
According to Greg, his introduction of the Harry Potter concept
to my grandsons went like this:
Greg: Hey guys, do you remember the Patronus spell from Harry
Potter?
Jordan and William: Yes.
Greg: What does it do?
J & W: The Patronus comes out and chases away the Dementors.
Greg: What is Harry's Patronus?
J & W: The spirit of Harry's dad.
Greg: That's right. Harry's Patronus is a beautiful memory he
has of something very important to him.
Greg: Did you know that the Patronus spell is real?
J & W: What?!
Greg: Yes. When you are being bothered by fears or worries of
any kind, if you think about something you love, or are excited
about, or that makes you happy, your worries or fears will
disappear.
Greg: What are some things that you love or that make you happy
to think about?
J & W: You and Mommy...Christmas...Halloween...Nanny and Pop
Pop, Grandgapop and Baba (Grandparents)...our kitties...Ms.
Hardin and Ms. Miller (teachers)...our cousins...our
friends...our toys...going to the movies...going on
vacation...etc.
Greg: Those are all wonderful thoughts. Anytime you are scared
or worried, if you think about things like that - you are
actually performing a magic spell! You are conjuring a Patronus!
Because your worries and fears are just like Dementors and
thinking about Mommy and Daddy will make the Dementors go away.
J & W: You mean, like if we have to go to the bathroom at night
and we think there is a monster in the hallway? All we have to
do is think about something we really love and we won't be
scared anymore?
Greg: Exactly! Or if you're worried about what someone thinks
about you or if you're scared that something bad is going to
happen to you. Almost all of your worries and fears are of
imaginary things. And if you think about something you love,
that imaginary thing scaring you will go away.
Greg: And remember how Harry's Patronus got more powerful each
time he cast the spell?
J & W: Yes.
Greg: Your Patronus will get more powerful too, each time you do
it!
I have had numerous follow-up conversations with my grandsons
about this topic and they have really taken the lessons of Harry
Potter's Patronus to heart. I hope you can use this powerful
lesson with your children and start them on the road to fun,
success, health, and vitality.
Not all of us were lucky enough to encounter The Fun Factor at
an early age; our fun was, to our detriment, quickly replaced by
the seriousness of adulthood! Give the gift of The Fun Factor to
your young family members and help them hold onto their sense of
fun, avoiding the missteps that spring from our adult fear and
seriouness.