Visualization can be such a valuable tool to help us move through and toward our goals and dreams.  I want to share a brief story with you on how visualization helped me move through a very stressful experience.  I was working as a counselor at a boy’s treatment ranch in Northern California during the mid-1990’s.  It happened to be kind of a rough place.  Most of the boys had been abused one way or another during their upbringing and didn’t have a good foundation of love, acceptance and boundaries set for them by their families.  Because of this, there was a lot of anger and other inappropriate behavior.  Sometimes we had to break up fights or were actually attacked ourselves physically as well as verbally.  It wasn’t an easy two years of employment there I can assure you, but I truly wanted to try and make a difference and help reach some of the kids so that they could have a better finish to their life.  

 

One day I remember having had to break up a fight between two boys with some of my co-workers.  As is usually the case after a fight we would take the offending parties to separate rooms where they could cool down and become “safe” again.  Due to California law, we weren’t able to lock these rooms, so one of the staff had to hold the door shut from the outside and watch through a window to make sure that the boy was being safe toward himself.  Many times while this procedure took place, the offending boy would still be “fired up” from his fight and would take it out on staff verbally.  It also wasn’t unusual for a troubled teen to spit on the window or try to urinate underneath the small crack at the base of the door to try and get some on us.  Well after this one particular fight between two teens, the one that I was watching was just letting me have it with all kinds of offensive swear words and threats.  Now I knew that what he was saying about me wasn’t true and that he was just basically mad at himself for getting into that situation, but when you are getting barraged with negativity, it’s hard to not let some of it slip into your consciousness.  After a while I was getting really worn out from listening to his angry rants and threats.  So to counter what was happening, I decided to come up with a mantra then and there that I continue to use to this day.  I began to say to myself, “I am love, I spread love and I am surrounded by love.”  I just kept repeating it over and over in my head.  It was amazing how it began to help me almost immediately. And after a few minutes you know what?  The young man began to relax as well.  Whether or not it was coincidence or he actually felt my energy change, it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that I was able to find comfort, love and relaxation during a very stressful experience.  

Copyright G. Brian Benson 2013