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The Power of Thought

Lessons From a Stranger

By Ninja P. Published 4 years ago 2 min read
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Hopes to break world record

Last week I was walking home from the market. The sky was dreary and a light rain covered my section of the world. I quickened my pace. I wanted to get home so that I could eat my crunchy peanut butter right out of the jar. It’s my comfort food.

When I rounded the corner this human was sitting on the ground. His pleas were barely audible but I knew what he wanted.

Me: “Hey”

Him: “Hey! How are you?”

Me: “I’m good. Just peanut butter hungry. You want some money?”

Him: “Yeah”.

Me: “For beer?”

Him: “I’m not going to lie, yeah.”

Me: “Ok.”

I walked to the liquor store and I grabbed two beers. Then, I skipped to the adjoining restaurant and grabbed a spoon. Five minutes later, I was back on the corner with this human. As he tucked his beer away I scooping out spoon fulls of crunchy peanut butter from the jar. I supported the weighted spoon as it travelled the short distance to my mouth. And, I just relaxed.

I didn’t think about how appalled my Christian mother would be. I didn’t think about the fact that I was getting wet. I didn’t think about how anxious my job makes me. I didn’t think about how my sock was slowly riding down in my shoe.

I just enjoyed the moment. I enjoyed the peanut butter. I enjoyed this humans company. I even started enjoying the rain. And, I listened to him talk.

He told me that sometimes it hurt to sleep but that he endured the pain because he was trying to set the world record for the most face piercings. He told me that he has been working on his goal for two years and that he planned to set the world record in a year. He sounded so passionate I couldn’t help but take in his enthusiasm with my peanut butter. As we parted, I wished him good luck and he thanked me for hanging out.

A couple of days later I started editing this photograph on Instagram (“IG”) with the intent of posting it to my IG story. After using the “sharpen” and “shadows” features, I stopped and smiled at this picture. Then, I pulled out my trusty spoon and my crunchy peanut butter.

As I ate it out of the jar it dawned on me that there were so many lessons to be learned from our interaction: the importance of humanity. The importance of charity. The importance of enjoying the moment. The power I have over my anxiety. I could go on. But the most important out of the importanceses, if you will, was that in everything there is a lesson. If I choose to see it.

In that moment I understood that in life, that in my life, I have the power to choose my thoughts. To choose how I perceive my reality, whatever it may be.

Then I put down my spoon.

goals
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