Chestnut Bud: Over and Over Again

The negative Chestnut Bud condition is one of the easiest to observe in others.

You probably know at least one person who always seems to attract the same kinds of people into major roles in his/her life: the woman, for example, who, although she insists that she is looking for a man who views a relationship as a partnership of equals, always finds herself with a domineering brute. She breaks up with her latest and says cheerfully, "Next time it will be different." The next time you see her she's with a new man, and you know before he opens his mouth that she's done it again.

Chestnut Bud people also gratefully escape terrible jobs only to find that their new jobs have the same problems, fail to recognize that a certain kind of stressful situation will usually trigger a characteristic physical response (an asthma attack, migraine headache, etc.) Their basic dynamic seems to be an inability to learn from experience.

In subtle forms the Chestnut Bud condition is very common, for most of us have uncritically absorbed many beliefs and practices we learned while growing up. They're often invisible to us, and even when they don't work, we are likely to blame outside events and circumstances, rather than the patterns we continue to follow.

A good way to discover these patterns is to examine our life scripts that begin with the words, "I never" (have enough money, am completely satisfied, lose weight) or "I always (am given an unfair share of responsibility, am the last to be considered, sacrifice without reward).

Chestnut Bud helps us to break repetitive patterns. It teaches us to be in the moment, to learn right now. It is a valuable Essence for any condition which persists despite every attempt to change it.

In its negative state Chestnut Bud may remind us of the child who doesn't learn from experience. In its positive state Chestnut Bud is the child for whom every new experience is a source of learning and wonder.

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