Page 41 - Three of Happiness

Second, ask yourself, “Why am I making them (it) so powerful?”
Why am I telling myself these silly things? What be er things could I be telling myself?
Third, ask yourself, “What is the worst that can happen?”
Do I really want to give control of my personal happiness over to this person, (situa on or thing)? What is the worst that could happen? Is this Worst something I can live with?
Fourth, ask yourself, “What should I do to slay the Dragon?”
In this example, it may be to go into the store and make a point of nding the person you are uncomfortable with, saying hello and trying to make friends.
Fi h, ask yourself, “How should I slay the Dragon?”
In this example, “I will introduce myself very pleasantly and not bring up anything about how they were ugly to me yesterday. If they choose not to be friendly, then I will just walk away.”
Sixth, ask yourself, “When do I slay the Dragon?”
This is di cult but necessary. Pick your me and place and hold yourself to it. “Tomorrow at recess, I will tell them that I am sorry we had that argument and it was as much my fault as theirs. I want like to be friends if they are willing.”
If you confront your dragon, as in the example, it is possible that your “Dragon” will not want to be friends (or you may study and s ll not do well on the test). The important thing is that you confronted your dragon, not the outcome. You studied appropriately.... you tried to be friends in an appropriate manner. The Good Thinking e ort is what is important and don’t let S nky Thinking cause you to disregard how strong you were to confront your dragon. Don’t let yourself think, “I knew I could not pass that test and it was stupid of me to try.” Instead, tell yourself, “I tried as hard as I could and s ll failed. I will just have to try harder or maybe get a tutor.” That’s Good Thinking.
It should be apparent that this last exercise is a life long skill. Adults can use it each
and every day. We teach this to children so that they can learn the skill with the small dragons of childhood. Adults may perceive your childhood fears as insigni cant and that your dragons can be easily dismissed. Adults compare your li le dragons to their giant dragons and can’t understand your upset, “Oh you will just get over it.” But your dragons are propor onately as large as any of their adult dragons. The solu on in dealing with your dragons may be less complicated but you always learn new skills by star ng with the easier parts and progressing to the more di cult. Therefore, childhood is the me to start the process of, “Slaying the Dragon.”
Use your memory of this story and this exercise whenever you are faced with a “Dragon” and are unable to come up with a ra onal solu on. As you become increasingly skilled, you will be able to do this more easily. Eventually, it will be so easy that you won’t be able to remember why you ever were afraid of those Dragons. As Cosmos Crow says, the whole idea is to take charge of your life. If you do that, the Tree of Happiness has served its purpose and you may never need to come here again.
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