"About 3 years ago my daughter set up a Son-Rise Program® for her younger son, who had been diagnosed with autism. This was my introduction to The Option Institute and a philosophy that has not only sown the seeds of hope and possibility for my grandson, but has created new horizons in my own life. As I played with my grandson and observed him relish his world with abandon, supreme focus and an enviable zest for enjoyment, I knew there was more in store for me! I too focused for the first time in my life on my own happiness rather than trying to keep others happy, or keeping myself miserable as I had done in six years of psychoanalysis! This was something rather unusual for a 75 year-old retired doctor, just-divorced for the second time and facing a chronic and debilitating illness. Somehow it seemed easy to maintain a state of bliss cushioned with my grandson in his playroom. So I came to the Institute for the Fast-Track Personal Change and the Empowering Yourself programs, with some degree of cynicism that I could really achieve similar goals for myself in the real world. Even though my advances with myself have been slow, they have been lasting and empowering, and I continue to grow and change, despite facing new challenges in my life. Instead of achieving, I now engage and enjoy. Instead of judging, I now love and connect. Instead of looking for answers outside myself, I now tap my own wisdom and experience. Instead of finding faults, I celebrate strengths. Instead of lamenting the past, I now look to the future for solutions.

My health has recently deteriorated, and at first I felt quite depressed and alone in my physical pain. However, I recall with great excitement my time at the Institute as a way of calling forth all my inner reserves and comfort and focusing my energy on my healing, rather than my illness. I am excited to be here, alive and living each moment to its utmost possibility. Thank you, my dear friends at the Institute, for helping me embrace my life rather than struggle against it."

- Aziz Kazi, 81, Retired Medical Doctor, United Kingdom