Hello,
I'm Robbie the rabbit.
I'm going to take you on a journey now
into my world.
Are you ready?
Just relax.
Listen to the sounds of nature
as I hop around the forest.
This is my music,
the music of the night.
It is comforting and soothing.
Imagine yourself beside me in my world,
sitting under a tree.
Imagine this now.
This tree is very special to me,
for it has allowed me to make my home under its wonderful branches,
which spread way across the land,
creating a nice,
cool,
shady spot for my underground home.
Come in.
Come and enjoy the comfort and safety of my home.
Look around.
Observe your surroundings.
Notice in the corner that nice,
soft pile of straw
that looks so inviting.
That is the coziest place in the forest.
My favorite.
Go ahead.
Lie down.
Relax.
And I'll tell you a story.
That's it.
Lie down.
It
feels so good,
so soft,
like a big, squishy bed.
Snuggle in now.
Get cozy and comfortable.
You may find that as you listen intently,
your body becomes more and more relaxed.
So,
just relax.
There.
Now that you're relaxed,
let me tell you about one of the lessons I've learned
this year.
I remember when I was growing up,
my mother and father would ask me to go out and get
dinner for us.
I wanted to,
but I would say, I can't,
because I was afraid.
I was afraid of humans.
Remember, Robbie, my mother would say,
you can do anything if you have faith in yourself
and let go of your fears.
As I grew older,
I realized more and more that this was true for me.
While I was hopping around the forest one day,
thinking many thoughts,
one thought in particular
kept my focus.
I was scared of being hurt by a human.
As I continued hopping around the forest,
I realized the thought was stuck in my head.
Now,
I suppose that thought could be a protection,
a warning signal for me to be more aware of my surroundings.
But I didn't feel protected.
It
bothered me that I was feeling fear.
I did not like the feeling of being afraid.
I noticed that all my friends seemed to feel the same way,
the same fear.
I grew tired of feeling fear and tired of
listening to my friends express their fear
all the time.
Even when I would try to leave them in their discussions,
they would come and find me and
continue talking about the same thing,
fear of humans.
We were all so busy worrying about being afraid
that we didn't have time to play and have fun
anymore.
I really missed our fun times exploring the forest and playing games.
Being afraid was keeping us from doing so many things.
Then I remembered what my parents always told me.
Remember, Robbie,
you can do anything if
you have faith in yourself and let go of your fear.
Maybe,
just maybe,
that would work.
One day I said to my friends,
please stop and take notice.
Look at what we're doing.
We keep thinking that we're going to get
hurt by one of those two-legged animals.
By thinking it all the time,
we're just running around in constant fear.
If we don't change our thinking,
it may just be that it will happen.
All of the rabbits looked at me with puzzling stares.
Then Ricky,
the youngest rabbit,
asked,
you mean if I think about something,
it is going to happen?
I thought.
Then I replied,
well,
maybe not immediately,
but eventually it can.
You see,
our thoughts create our beliefs and
our beliefs create our experience.
So if
you think about something bad happening,
then you begin to believe that that is what will happen.
When this happens,
you attract whatever you fear to you.
So yes,
eventually,
because you keep believing it,
what you fear may happen.
Little Ricky was surprised.
He scratched behind his ear and looked at me.
I could tell that the
young rabbit was not sure about what I was saying.
After all,
he had been taught to be
afraid of humans since he could remember.
So I patted little Ricky on the back and said,
come with me and let me show you something.
We hopped off together away from our
friends and went deeper into the forest.
The trees seemed to be closer together
and there were a lot of vines and bushes.
Even so,
little Ricky said he felt very comfortable with me
and followed me deeper and deeper into the woods.
Then we stopped before an open field with many beautiful wildflowers,
blooming in spectacular colors of red,
blue,
orange and purple.
In the corner of the field
stood a rich green garden full of tasty vegetables.
This is beautiful, said Ricky.
I didn't know this
was here.
How do you feel?
I asked.
Little Ricky paused for a moment and then responded.
I feel great.
What are you thinking about, Ricky?
Little Ricky immediately replied.
I'm
thinking that I have no fear of anything.
I was pleased to hear this.
Just as Ricky turned to
look at all the beautiful flowers around him,
he saw a human walking toward him.
The human stopped
for a moment and stared at little Ricky.
Feel the feeling of acceptance, I said.
Let go of fear and
all the judgments you may have concerning
this human who is staring at you.
Look at this human
without any fear.
It's how you feel about it that creates your experience.
The human smiled at us
and began working in his garden.
Then little Ricky noticed something beginning to happen.
His thoughts of fear began to bubble away
and he felt more at ease with his feelings.
He was feeling totally safe and comfortable in his entire furry self.
More and more he felt this feeling of
acceptance as he observed the human.
What are you feeling now, I asked.
Little Ricky thought for a moment and said,
I think I should be afraid,
but I don't feel afraid.
Then something happened.
The human winked
at us as he planted an additional row of carrots and greens.
As he marked the row with a stake that
said rabbit patch,
he said,
this row is just for you.
Whenever you like,
you're welcome to come for a snack.
When he finished planting,
the human smiled at us and slowly walked away into the distance.
Wow,
said little Ricky.
If I had run away as soon as I saw that human,
I would still be afraid of him and wouldn't
know about the rabbit patch at all.
Everything changed once I realized I didn't have to be afraid.
I was pleased with little Ricky's experience.
From now on,
he will look at his feelings of fear
very differently because now he sees
that what he believes truly affects his life.
He understands that he always has choices.
I smiled at little Ricky and said,
remember,
this is a special place,
a place where you can always come for answers.
This place exists within you.
It is a great teacher for it will mirror
back to you that which you need to learn.
Little Ricky and I turned away from the beautiful field
and garden and began to travel back through the forest,
back to where we had left our friends.
When we returned,
little Ricky was very excited to share his experience.
He began to tell his story to our friends.
Let me tell you something important I've just learned.
What you believe affects what happens in your life.
It's always your choice.
And he continues to tell his story
throughout the forest to all who will listen.