You Can Control
...Both of them can show you that you're capable of much more than you think you are.The strongest power on earth is human will. You can if you want!
In the last excerpt we became acquainted with the Flakefoot Falcon. In our endeavor to learn how to be at peace within, we examine the Ten Lessons of the Flakefoot Falcon.
Lesson Number One: Look for your good points; try to find your particularly special attributes, skills, or talents, and cultivate them to the best of your ability.
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Lesson Number Two: Divide your weak points into two categories: First, those you have control of; and second, those you don’t have control of. Do what you can to improve the weaknesses you can control.
If you were a Flakefoot Falcon, your personal assessment inventory of talents and weaknesses would look like this:
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Talents
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Controllable Faults
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Uncontrollable Faults
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Flying ace
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Periodic melancholy
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Psoriasis on the legs
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Master hunter
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Embarrassed in public
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Superb Eyesight
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Inspiring
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Family-oriented
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Highly spiritual
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Look at the amazing results in the above table: The Falcon has a list of qualities twice as long as his list of faults. Moreover, out of all his faults, only one is out of his control! If I were counseling a Flakefoot Falcon, the first thing I would do after our initial get-acquainted session would be to draw up the above table.
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Now, imagine that you are the emotional counselor of a Flakefoot Falcon. The bird has been suffering from severe depression, and has come to you for help. After interviewing the Falcon, you fill in the above table. Here’s what you tell the bird:
Your Advice to the Flakefoot Falcon
Uncontrollable Faults: Until veterinary science develops a cure for avian psoriasis, try not to think about your flaking legs. If you dream about being a peacock, a flamingo, or a fashion model for ladies’ hosiery – forget it. Your good points vastly outweigh your sole uncontrollable weak point; focus on them, and you’ll forget about the flaking feet. (See the coming lesson for a continuation of this train of thought).
Controllable Faults: During our introductory meeting, Mr. Falcon, we concluded that the presence of other birds, animals, or humans causes you extreme self-consciousness and embarrassment. I would suggest that you limit contact with other beings to a minimum, and thereby spare yourself the unnecessary anguish. You’re a wonderful husband and father, as Mrs. Falcon confirms, so your family unit can accord you all the social satisfaction you need. If that’s not enough, establish relationships with other Flakefoot Falcons in the area. Birds of a feather can always flock together with no anguish or embarrassment.
As for the melancholy, notice that you become depressed whenever you spend too much time on the ground or in the nest. Therefore, I suggest that you increase your airborne time by at least 15%. Bring your flight logbook to our next session, so that we can keep track of your progress…
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Dear reader, I’m so proud of you! Look what a fantastic counselor you are! What you just did for the Flakefoot Falcon, you can now do for your mate, your child, or your close friend. Better yet, you can draw up a table and assess yourself! You’ll be amazed at the amount of anger, stress, and frustration that disappears from your life the minute you begin to honestly assess yourself.
For your convenience, here’s a blank table for you to fill in. I know you have many more good qualities than what I’ve allotted space for, but I don’t want my esteemed publisher to think that I’m wasting space.
Your Personal Assessment Table
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Talents
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Controllable Faults
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Uncontrollable Faults
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Monitor your progress periodically. Wait and see how wonderfully you begin to channel your energies in the right directions. I’m positive that you’re a winner, and that you’ll be a tremendous success.
Important! Be careful not to confuse uncontrollable faults with the controllable faults you can overcome with dedication and hard work.
As a little boy in elementary school in the late 1950s, my hero was Mickey Mantle, center-fielder of the world-champion New York Yankees. Mickey suffered from osteomyelitis, a bone disease. As a child, doctors predicted that he’d never walk properly; yet, he turned out to be a swift outfielder and the perennial home-run king of the American league. His success had a high price tag: Before each game, he went through a lengthy ritual of taping his legs, and endured excruciating pain his entire baseball career. His biggest victory in life was overcoming the bone disease.
At this point, we’ll flash back up to our Heavenly lecture hall with the giant video screen.
You now see yourself on center stage in the limelight as a self-pitying wreck in a wheel chair, full of anger at yourself, self-pity, and resentment. The lights go off, the projector lights up the screen, and you see a ball clearing the 420-foot center field fence in Yankee Stadium, while 60,000 delirious fans jump to their feet. Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Moose Skowron, Tony Kubek, Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, and Bobby Richardson meet you at home plate. The Yanks just captured another World Series title. You could have been Mickey Mantle…
The doctors told my parents that I wouldn’t be able to live without periodic adrenaline shots. The rising pollen count in the humid late summer of suburban Washington, D.C. would aggravate my hay fever, which in turn would trigger my asthma. On numerous occasions, my father, of blessed memory, would rush me – his choking and gasping son – to the nearest doctor or emergency room for an adrenaline injection.
Mickey Mantle inspired me. Just as he ran on his bad legs, I started running on my contracted lung passages. By age eighteen, the asthma was gone. Who knows how many other children across the nation were inspired by Mickey Mantle? His positive influence on an entire generation of American youth outshines his home run and World Series titles.
If I hadn’t have licked the asthma, I would have never been accepted in the army, much less Special Forces. Had I not experienced the ultimate high-stress situations of the army, I may have never developed the spiritual side of my life. Had I never developed the spiritual side of my life, I could never have written this book. Now, do you begin to understand the far-reaching influence that overcoming a seemingly uncontrollable handicap has on others?
Thanks, Mickey Mantle, wherever you are.
Sometimes differentiating between a controllable fault and an uncontrollable fault is difficult. When in doubt, ask a good Spiritual Awareness counselor for help; or, ask a Marine drill sergeant. Both of them can show you that you’re capable of much more than you think you are.
The strongest power on earth is human will. You can if you want (The Melitzer Rebbe).
To be continued . . .
(The Trail to Tranquility is available in the Breslev Store.)
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