I think most children grow up being scared of something.
The dark.
Clowns.
Heights.
Spiders.
It doesn't matter what the thing is that scares you...fear is fear and it can hold you back from doing or seeing some pretty cool things.
Check out this story about how some forest creatures learned to have a little COURAGE...
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DARK WIZARD, SPARK WIZARD…COURAGE
Whenever there was a storm, the
animals of the Enchanted Forest ran, frightened, to hide, fearful of the
bolts of lightning and the terrifying thunder. However, one day the storm
came on so quickly that almost no one had the time to reach their hideout and,
just when they were most frightened, some of the animals saw a tiny little
light appear from out of the trees, coming from a spot where a bolt of
lightning had just hit.
The little light was jumping and
joyfully and excitedly crying out. All the animals watching ran over to see who
this mad being could be, a being would could be happy in the middle of a storm.
And so it was that they met the very
first of the Spark Wizards, which
were tiny little beings that shone intensely all over, as if they had somehow
managed to swallow a star. Flint, as this Spark Wizard was known, turned
out to be very nice and very charming, and when they asked him how he could be
so joyful in the middle of such a ferocious storm, he replied with surprise:
-“But why wouldn’t I be happy when
I’ve just escaped after two thousand years?”
He went on to explain how, thousands
of years ago, the Dark Wizard had captured all the Spark Wizards and
imprisoned them inside some big black clouds where he forced them to work as
his slaves. It was almost impossible to escape that prison, but now and
again, some of those clouds would collide, and with that impact little tufts of
cloud would break off, allowing a Spark Wizard to escape. Each time one
escaped it would leap out with such eagerness that its trail of light would
illuminate the whole sky, and produce what we know as a lightning bolt. Not
long after such an escape, the Dark Wizard would realise what had happened
and would grumble furiously about it and beat the clouds in frustration.
His cries were filled with anger, and this is why rolls of thunder boom so
strongly around the skies.
Excited at Flint’s story, those
animals were never again frightened at the storms and the thunder. Instead,
when the sky began to cover with black clouds, all the animals would gather
at the big rock, where they could get the best view of the storm. There they
would applaud and cheer each time a little Spark Wizard managed to escape the
clutches of the Dark Wizard. Even better, each time the Dark Wizard came out
with one of his angry grumbles of protest, the animals would answer him
with a chorus of boos and jeers.
***********
Sometimes the things that scare us are all in our mind. The dark might be holding the stars we can count in the nighttime sky. Clowns might be just the people to make us laugh. Heights might be how we can see the world in a different way.
And spiders?
Well, other than eating insects we might not want to have around, I know even some grown ups that still don't like spiders much, but they're still working on that COURAGE thing. One step at a time...
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