On Thinking,<\/p>\n
An Angel and Child Story<\/p>\n
By<\/p>\n
Jennifer Angelina Petro<\/p>\n
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\u201cGood morning little one,\u201d said the Angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cMorning Angel,\u201d said the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like you have a question,\u201d said the Angel.<\/p>\n
After a short moment thinking, the child said: \u201cYes, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re welcome to share it with me, although I cannot guarantee I have the right answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always have the right answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI try.\u00a0 Now what is your question, dear one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d began the child, \u201cI keep thinking this nasty thought\u2014about some of my friends getting hurt\u2014not that I am the one hurting them or even want them hurt\u2014it\u2019s just that this thought keeps coming out of nowhere of them getting hurt somehow, and I don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI see,\u201d said the Angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I feel like I can\u2019t stop that thought from being in my mind, and I don\u2019t want it there.\u00a0 What can I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d offered the Angel, \u201cYou could think a different thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I can\u2019t,\u201d said the child, \u201cIt\u2019s just there.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could try,\u201d said the angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time the nasty thought comes, catch it, like a fly in a web, and then tuck it over and away, and then, think a different thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust what I said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I catch a thought?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as you realize it\u2019s in your mind catch it, stop the tape, hold the phone, freeze the frame\u2014whatever you want to call it\u2014just notice there\u2019s the thought in your mind you don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then think a different one\u2014one you do like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible,\u201d said the child sitting down defeated on her bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes practice,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cYou see, we\u2019re so used to believing we have no say, no control, no intentions for what goes through our heads, that we believe we\u2019re helpless to choose thoughts we like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels helpless,\u201d said the child, \u201cThat thought goes through my mind a million times a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are helpless,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cthey have illnesses that makes it so they need support from outside to help them order their thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if I am one of the helpless ones?\u201d asked the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we get you help,\u201d said the angel, \u201cFor now, try it.\u00a0 After all, a thought is just a picture zooping around your mind\u2019s eye.\u00a0 When a picture comes you don\u2019t like, freeze it right there in its tracks, and then pick a different picture to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds hard,\u201d said the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cand often difficult things are the most rewarding. And besides, it can also be fun\u2014a new adventure in thinking.\u00a0 Think of it like that\u2014an adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, when I think of my friends getting hurt, I catch that picture\u2014like a fly in a web, and then think of a happy picture?\u00a0 Does it have to be about my friends?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good idea,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cThat way you\u2019ll still be thinking about your friends but instead of focusing on a picture of them being hurt you can focus on a picture of them being happy, healthy, surrounded by Light.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWill you help me?\u201d asked the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d said the Angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cOK,\u201d said the child, \u201chere goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as the image of her friends getting hurt raced across the screen of her mind, the child stopped it\u2014froze it right where it was, and then, after taking a deep breath, and asking the Angel\u2019s help, created a different picture\u2014one in which her friends were happy, playing, and dancing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did it!\u201d shouted the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew you could,\u201d said the angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait,\u201d the child said, sinking down into the bed, \u201cthe nasty thought is back.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did work,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cIt\u2019s just you might need to do it several times, or a hundred times to get the chosen thought to stick.\u00a0 After all, you said you\u2019ve been thinking the nasty thought a million times a day.\u00a0 It\u2019s like you\u2019ve created a groove or an easy pathway for it to be there.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s time to create another path.\u00a0 You can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so, the child did it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt worked,\u201d said the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it will work over and over, especially the more you feed your mind happy, loving, healthy, positive images.\u00a0 And,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cthis will help too.\u201d Suddenly the Angel drew a golden sword from out of the blue.\u00a0 The sword was long, brilliantly shining like the sun, and gleaming with sharpness and power.\u00a0 She laid the sword across her hands and offered it to the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?!\u201d The child said, her eyes like saucers, her heart racing, her mind afire with wonder, \u201cA sword?!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will help too,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cuse it wisely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, I\u2019m just a kid.\u00a0 I can\u2019t use a sword like that!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t share it with you if I thought you couldn\u2019t use.\u00a0 It is alright.\u00a0 It will fit in your hand, and maybe seem heavy, but it will always swing light as a feather and more powerful than lightening when you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWow,\u201d the child said, standing up to take the mighty sword into her hands.\u00a0 She felt its weight, its power.\u00a0 \u201cDoes it have a name?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said the Angel, \u201cIt does.\u00a0 It is called, Truth.\u00a0 Use it when the lies come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, Angel,\u201d said the child, raising the sword in front of her, \u201cI think this will help.\u00a0 I think this will help indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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