Your Erroneous Zones

by Wayne W. Dyer

I know of a thirty-two-year-old man, Frank, who has learned to reject all of his bodily functions labeling them as disgusting and unmentionable. Frank is compulsively clean about his body to the point of being uncomfortable whenever he sweats, and he expects the same kind of starchy-clean behavior from his wife and children. He rushes for the shower to rid himself of any offensive odors after mowing the lawn or playing a set of tennis. Moreover, he cannot have sex unless both he and his wife shower before and after. He cannot tolerate his own normal body odors, nor can he live with anyone who is more accepting of himself. Frank sprays his bathroom, uses a multitude of cosmetic products to keep himself smelling good, and he is concerned about anyone else disliking him when he becomes human and begins smelling like one. Frank has learned to reject his natural body functions and odors. He has adopted attitudes that reflect personal self-rejection, by either being embarrassed or apologetic whenever he allows his body to be natural. But being human means having many natural odors, and the person who is working at self-love and self-acceptance is in no way offended by his natural self. In fact, if Frank were to be totally honest about himself, and wiped out the learned messages of self-rejection, he might even be able to admit to enjoying his own body and all of the glorious odors it is capable of producing. While he might not wish to share those odors with others, he would at l...