Sitting Bull ...

I once read an account of the native American Indian, Sitting Bull, and have never been able to forget it. During a skirmish against government soldiers, the Indian fighters found themselves pegged back quite a distance by rifle-fire. The situation appeared to be a stale-mate, but all of a sudden something extraordinary happened. Sitting Bull rode out into the long grass that separated the warring parties. To everyone’s amazement, while bullets cut through the grass all around, he dismounted, sat on the ground, filled his pipe, smoked it for a minute or two, then rode away. One can only marvel at his show of defiance. The reason I often remember that story, whether it’s true or not, is because it encapsulates the attitude needed when standing against the spurious threats conjured by one’s own mind. We have to stand in the face of them.

In my book, Another Kind of Knowing, in a chapter called ...*The Wizard that Never Woz*, I wrote of an occasion when I raged at the devil, and found out that he did not exist. At the time I had three growing daughters and through a lack of work my financial situation began to look precarious.

However, I began to notice, as the bills came in and I struggled to pay them, that a negative voice kept accompanying them, nagging away at me, spinning the situation into something far worse than it really was. It riled me to think that ‘something’ hidden could poke at my emotions, cause me to worry and paint everything black. To cut a long story short, I figured it might be the devil taking free shots at me, so I lost my temper whilst out walking in a field, and challenged him to either ‘put up or shut up.’ However, no matter how much I swore and abused him, there was no reaction. Then suddenly, in the midst of it all, the penny dropped and I realised something very important.

Neither god nor the devil could do anything to me, and never had, because I’m the one with the power to make things happen. If I swallow fearful negativity, I cause it to manifest. If I’m optimistic, then I cause positive opportunities to arise. It was quite a revelation at the time, but like all such breakthroughs, it needed to be put to the test. Therefore, I decided to defy and ignore everything that threatened me. I remember a bill arriving one morning, and my emotions immediately trying to drag me down a trail of negativity. ‘You’ll suffer shame, public humiliation, oh dear, you’re in trouble.’ It said.

However, remembering my pledge, I hit back and replied, “What was that? Did you just threaten me with negative outcomes? Okay, tell you what, I’ll put the kettle on, make some tea and see exactly how you’re going to pull this off without me.” I spoke the words out loud, made the tea and mocked the sender of the message. “Come on,” I said, “let’s see what you’ve got. Just go ahead and lay it on me, I’m waiting.” And of course, none of what was threatened ever came to pass because they were just words. In fact, the outcome was quite the opposite, I began to prosper. But my point is this. There have been many times when emotional threats have hit me and seemed so realistic that it took all of my courage to withstand them. My rule of thumb became; ‘if it carries a threat, dire consequences or dread, stand up to them and challenge them to deliver.’

On many occasions, it was as if I sat alone like Sitting Bull, smoking my pipe while threatening bullets of fear flew at me. Perhaps you’re wondering how this dynamic works? Quite simply, fears, random thoughts, dreads and negative scenarios of the mind are not realities, but mere potentialities. The only thing that is very real is you. Under the reality of your gaze and refusal to be moved, an emotional threat will diminish and soon disappear. Why don’t you give it a try? When some kind of mental threat or dreaded scenario arises to create fear, be brave and challenge it to deliver. In doing so you will make a very important distinction; that you are you, and thoughts are thoughts; two entirely different entities. Thoughts can’t shoot you down unless you buy into them. It has been said that we are the blue sky, and thoughts are nothing more than clouds that pass across the horizon. We are permanent, but clouds come and go.

If you could gain one victory by diminishing a threatening mental scenario by standing up to it, pretty soon you’ll be doing it again. And who knows where it will end? Hopefully you’ll ride away like Sitting Bull, without so much as a mark upon you.