I learned all this from "Mr. Russell" when he returned to my office several weeks after I had dismissed Him. My nurse didn't recognize him, and no wonder. The "Mr. Russell" who had first called upon me had been a very impressive individual, slightly too-large lip and all. He stood about six feet four, a large man with the physique of an athlete and the bearing and manner that bespoke of an inner dignity and gave him a magnetic personality. The very pores of his skin seemed to exude an animal­like vitality.
The Mr. Russell who now sat across the desk from me had aged at least 20 years. His hands shook with the tremor of age. His eyes and cheeks were sunken. He had lost perhaps 30 pounds. The changes in his appearance were all characteristic of the process which medical sci­ence, for want of a better name, calls "aging."
After a quick examination of his mouth I assured Mr. Russell I could get rid of the African Bug in less than 30 minutes, which I did. The bump which had caused all the trouble was merely a small bit of scar tissue from his operation. I removed it, held it in my hand, and showed it to him. The important thing is he saw the truth and be­lieved it. He gave a sigh of relief, and it seemed as if there was an almost immediate change in his posture and ex­pression.
Several weeks later, I received a nice letter from Mr. Russell, together with a photograph of him with his new bride. He had gone back to his home and married his childhood sweetheart. The man in the picture was the first Mr. Russell. Mr. Russell had grown young again—over­night. A false belief aged him 20 years. The truth had not only set him free of fear and restored his confidence— but had actually reversed the "aging process."
If you could have seen Mr. Russell as I did, both "be­fore" and "after," you would never again entertain any doubts about the power of belief, or that an idea accepted as true from any source, can be every bit as powerful as hypnosis.