Lunes, Nobyembre 19, 2012

HW3: Fortune telling as counseling




Life is beautiful, for some it is a bed of roses but for some it is not. There are those who view life as a challenge, a network of discovery and innovation, a chance for success and a door to wealth. For them life is gratifying, colorful and rewarding. In whatever situations, these kind of people find themselves keep on believing and fighting. For them, “Where there is life, there is hope.” But there are some who view life as hard, punishing and merciless. For them, they can do nothing to be good and in most times, they lost every sense of direction.

No matter who we are and how we view life, it will always be tough; it was in fact an ocean of endless problems. And whenever we take problems seriously, it gives us stress which affects each of us in different ways and it can seriously affect your physical and mental well-being. 

Whenever I have problems, I strongly face it and will easily think and execute possible solutions to that problem. And when I am becoming stressful, I am talking or opening things with someone I trust which I know can help me clear my mind and can give me good pieces of advice. I as well take time to rest or have a very short vacation to be more relaxed and comfortable.


There are other people who choose to seek fortune tellers for a quick answer or fix to the problem they are having. They may be mentally lazy or depressed and they may simply be searching and a fortuneteller or psychic is an easy way to find answers.

This article is entitled “Putting the ‘fortune’ back in fortune telling” by Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku. This article is from a tabloid press in Japan about a comedian who apparently has wasted her career and whatever money it made her on the services of a self-styled fortune teller who effectively commandeered her life. I believe this kind of scenario is also present in the Filipino society.

Based on the article, the comedian named Tomoko Nakajima first turned to a fortune teller when she needed an advice about becoming a freelance writer. The fortune teller told her to get married and she did it but the marriage didn’t work and she divorced. Despite what turned out to be bad advice she continued seeking counsel from fortune tellers, obsessed with what would happen to her in the future until she became indebted. But in the end, she kicked her habit.

In my own point of view, asking for pieces of advice to people whoever you may wish to is not a question but the dilemma arises if you will become addicted or habituated to ask for help at all times. This makes a person losing his confidence or trust in his self and have the fear of committing mistakes based on the decisions he will make.

Money is an essential component of addiction. Traditionally, one finds fortune tellers on the street, sitting in front of little stands, handing out advice in ten-minute of time, and ten minutes is never enough especially if the fortune teller speaks so accurate or factual. This then can make the client to feel relaxed or untroubled and cheered up because the fortune teller appeared to listen on the worries of the client and gives guidance or advice to him.

However the act of “repeated” emotions to a fortune teller is what makes the process so habit-forming. It’s like a tranquilizer to reduce the fear of the unknown, but since the fear is never directly dealt with it never goes away, and so the client has to continue seeking advice. As what I as well observed, clients who complain about the fortune teller are mostly because the advice didn’t work or the falsity of their talent or gift and they weren’t able to get their money’s worth and not so much with the expensive fee.

The fee a person pays to a fortune teller is about the same as the consultation fee you can pay to a psychiatrist or counselor. A fortune teller uses his instinct or feelings to prophesize or answer questions while a counselor or psychiatrist uses his knowledge or wisdom from his years of education. The similarity between them is they both give or specialize in giving advice with no guarantee results but in different ways.

I believe that mind is the center of everything. It controls one’s thoughts and beliefs. No one can directly know what the answer to your problem except you alone because it is yours. A positive mind helps one to discover the beauty of life. A great person is one who has faith or belief in his identity and potentials.


Walang komento:

Mag-post ng isang Komento