So? What do you think?’ ‘Think about what?’ Joe answered, catching on to where his sister was going. ‘Have you registered for it yet, as you promised me?’ ‘You know that a promise is a promise, especially when I know how long I’d have to listen to you about it if I didn’t! Yes, I’ll be there. Anyway, I hope you know that I’ve only registered to make you happy … A course about personal freedom doesn’t say much to me.’ ‘Joe! Trust me, you’ll learn a lot of useful stuff. It’s about NLP, Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Do you know what that is?’ ‘I know that you seem to be really excited about it, even if you haven’t explained it to me fully yet.’ Luckily, Joe added under his breath. ‘Well, basically, NLP is a system to think and communicate in a more effective way. To me, it’s one of the more practical areas of the self-improvement field. Some people call it “the psychology of success”.’ Maria feigned a dramatic television voice. ‘And what can you use it for? Why bother learning it?’ Joe continued. ‘Well, for example, to help you become free of negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It gives you the mental and communication strategies to become happier and more successful.’ ‘Right. Well, I know you believe it’ll help me, but it all seems a little too good to be true, Maria. I mean, surely three days of a course isn’t going to fix everything.’ ‘Of course not, silly. It won’t fix everything immediately, but it will really help you get going. Three days are useful to get you thinking about how you usually think, so that you can start taking control over your thoughts and, as a result, over your life.’ ‘But how is some guy lecturing me about his theories going to help me change?’ ‘That’s the thing, Joe. It’s not about theories. The speaker will be teaching you through some of his experiences, and then he will suggest that you try several NLP techniques. You’ll realize how it works, and you’ll get a lot from it. Trust me, I’ve attended this course. Now, stop moaning! If you don’t go, you won’t see.’ ‘I’ve just told you I’m going!’ ‘Well, then let me ask you one final question, Joe. Do you know why some people live happily and others don’t?’ ‘Money? Luck? Good looks?’ Joe guessed. ‘Nope. It’s like Mum always used to say, money isn’t the key to being happy, and besides, you make your own luck. As for good looks, it’s in our genes, my dear brother. You’re related to me, for goodness’ sake!’ Joe smiled. Maria had an unfailing ability to cheer him up. He thought back to when their mother had been alive. She had died when he was eighteen. She was such a caring mother, always believing in Joe and insisting that he could do more than his teachers and his father had

said he could. When she passed away, he lost that belief in himself. His mother’s positivity shone brightly in Maria. Was she the only person left who really believed he could do better? ‘Look, Joe, I’m asking you to go along with what you hear for three days and give it a shot. When you do, you’ll realize how much you can actually determine what happens. Don’t be too surprised if you find yourself enjoying it.’ Joe agreed that he would give it a shot. They said good-night to each other. Moving towards the staircase, Joe knew now that any hope of sleep was faint. He wandered out to the kitchen and opened the window, lighting up a cigarette and blowing smoke out into the cold night air. He looked out of his apartment window and took another drag. He felt stuck, trapped in the way he was living. He thought about how different his life had turned out from what, as a child, he had hoped it might one day be. He took a final smoke of his cigarette, put it out in the kitchen sink and turned back towards the bedroom, taking the leaflet again from the table. He looked at it: ‘The Secret of Personal Freedom. Three Days with Dr Richard Bandler.’ Another line caught his attention. Our biggest limit is not in what we want and cannot do; it is in what we have never considered that we can do. Were these words addressed directly to him? With the sentence bouncing around in his mind, he returned to bed. He tossed and turned under the sheets for a few hours. He couldn’t help thinking that the course would be a waste of time, and yet another part of him was curious. Give it a try, Joe. Then those dream-like images crept into his head. The images that he’d been seeing for so long now. His mother’s face. Her deep blue eyes looking straight into his own. She’d believed in him. Joe always felt that he had disappointed her when he looked back into her face. She would want him to make a go of things. Joe decided that he would give this a chance. For his mother. For Maria. For himself. Could this stuff actually help? It was time to make an effort to change things. The image in his mind of his mother’s face changed. Her lips did not move, but Joe thought he could see a smile in her eyes. He rolled over, and this time he was asleep within minutes.

Day One