Season the Pot

By Nancy Landrum

Season the Pot encourages the reader explore the foundational beliefs of his or her relationship experience. Some beliefs support the manifestation of loving, nurturing relationships. Other beliefs can unknowingly block or destroy the possibility of _satisfying relationships. Nancy clearly outlines the process of replacing toxic beliefs with beliefs that provide a strong, dependable container in which to concoct your unique love potion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496944269

Nancy Landrum

Nancy Landrum has written a series of transformational books that deliver gigantic wallops of insight! Each volume in the series covers a particular ingredient present in a healthy relationship. These powerful truths will demystify how healthy relationships work. Her wisdom is harvested from a passionate, lifetime search for the secret to loving and being loved. The examples from her years of relationship coaching make reading these volumes engaging as well as inspiring. Each chapter ends with perceptive recipes to help the reader add that particular ingredient to his or her love potion.

Book preview

© 2014 Nancy Landrum. All rights reserved.

Cover Design by Michelle Owens of Stratatomic

Illustrations by Nancy Landrum

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/06/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-4426-9 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

SERIES INTRODUCTION

Preview: SEASON THE POT

Chapter 1: WHY CAN’T WE AGREE?

Chapter 2: SOURCES OF DIFFERENCE

Chapter 3: COMMUNICATION FILTERS

Chapter 4: TAUGHT OR CAUGHT?

Chapter 5: A LIBERATING TRUTH

Chapter 6: BELIEFS THAT BLOCK RELATIONSHIPS

Chapter 7: BELIEFS THAT DESTROY RELATIONSHIPS

Chapter 8: LAYING TRACKS TO A NEW DESTINATION

YOU ARE INVITED…

Preview: COMMUNICATION ELIXIRS

ABOUT NANCY’S WORK

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DESCRIPTION of the Series: Love Potions for Healthy Relationships

Nancy Landrum has written a series of transformational books that deliver gigantic wallops of insight! Each volume in the series covers a particular ingredient present in a healthy relationship. These powerful truths will demystify how healthy relationships work. Her wisdom is harvested from a passionate, lifetime search for the secret to loving and being loved. The examples from her years of relationship coaching make reading these volumes engaging as well as inspiring. Each chapter ends with perceptive recipes to help the reader add that particular ingredient to his or her love potion.

Season the Pot encourages the reader explore the foundational beliefs of his or her current relationship experience. Some beliefs support the manifestation of loving, nurturing relationships. Other beliefs can unknowingly block or destroy even the possibility of satisfying relationships. Nancy clearly outlines the process of replacing toxic beliefs with beliefs that provide a strong, dependable container in which to concoct your unique love potion.

The Love Potions for Healthy Relationships Series continues:

Communication Elixirs

Savory Safeguards

Pungent Boundaries

Successful Solutions for Stepfamilies

Sweeten the Potion

Elegantly Bottling Your Potion

DEDICATION

Donna Bostic

Only you know how very much you contributed to my belief in this work.

I miss you most of all, but also miss your on-target editing!

I was so blessed to call you friend.

(1952-2012)

I AM GRATEFUL TO:

Carolyn Himes

Thank you for suggesting that my rough idea of some classes would make a good series of small books

and for all of your help in bringing this dream into reality!

Carrie Doubts

This acknowledgement began as a joke between friends, but this is for real!

I am so grateful for your ongoing and skillful support of my dreams!

Erica Massey

You have demonstrated your belief in this message by underwriting the

printing costs for Season the Pot. I am humbled by your generosity

and so very thankful for your trust!

And a heart-felt Thank you! to a few good friends who read the first drafts and made such great suggestions! Good editors are an author’s treasure!

SERIES INTRODUCTION

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T he definition of potion is a drink or draft reputed to have medicinal, poisonous or magical powers. In this series, potion refers to any ingredient that influences the quality of a relationship. Many of us, without intending to, have contributed ingredients to our relationships that cause those relationships to be somewhat distasteful, unsatisfying, bitter, or even dangerous.

Being in a healthy relationship is somewhat like savoring a warm, flavorful concoction when coming in from the cold. Each ingredient or spice alone may taste flat or even bitter, but the combination of ingredients makes a tasty, healing, and satisfying potion. I believe it’s a universal desire to enjoy healthy relationships that fulfill our longing for loving and being loved.

Satisfying relationships have proven to be medicinal by contributing to health in many other areas of life, as well. Just a few of the areas are physical and mental health, longevity, educational and financial levels achieved, job productivity and stability, and general life-satisfaction. In addition, a stable, loving relationship between a child’s parents has been proven to positively contribute to physical and emotional health, school performance, educational level achieved and the success of a child’s relationships in adulthood.

The Love Potions for Healthy Relationships series is based on the potent ingredients found by my late husband Jim and me when we were searching for help for our failing marriage. In addition, I found these ingredients to be essential in relationship with my children and with every other significant relationship I enjoy. Other ingredients were incorporated as I navigated a

painful, but ultimately rich journey with a drug-addicted son.

You can focus on one ingredient at a time, and while you learn about it, think about what flavor that ingredient may add to your relationship. If that ingredient may help your relationship, choose to add it to your own Love Potion. Then check out another ingredient. The books do not need to be read in their original order. Pick up the one that sparks your interest and dive in.

From personal experience, I know that each ingredient can be integrated into the most disturbed relationships with amazingly positive results. Some of the ingredients you may find easy to add. Other ingredients may require far more effort and persistence, stretching you to your limit. But by adding each of these ingredients into your relationships, my hope is that you, like me, will strengthen the loving connections for which we all long.

Caution: Not all relationships can be made healthy. We ultimately have control over making our half of a relationship as healthy as possible. In some cases, that may mean tossing a relationship out of your pot or establishing strong limits for when and how you relate to a particular person. A potion for these strategies is covered in Pungent Boundaries.

However, there is a mysterious dynamic that often happens when one person is willing to introduce healthier ingredients into a relationship. The other person frequently responds positively. Just as anger usually begets anger, healthier loving is often reciprocated in kind.

Healing is every bit as powerful and transforming when it only happens within yourself, however. The potions in this series will help you become healthier. And the healthier you are, the more apt you are to attract healthier persons into your life and be sensitized to recognize persons who are less prepared for a healthy relationship.

Each volume includes examples from my personal experiences as well as stories of others whom I’ve coached or taught. Pertinent quotes are added from gifted thinkers whom I respect.

Every section or chapter ends with questions to stimulate your thinking or exercises to help you incorporate what each section teaches about relationships. The first book in the series focuses on the pot itself, our relationship beliefs, so those exercises are called, Season the Pot. In the following volumes, the exercises at the end of each section or chapter are referred