I just returned from spending a delightful weekend with my three youngest grandsons, ages 6,5 and almost 4. Debbie couldn’t go, but she sent a book about a leprechaun making a mess at school and ending with an invitation for the students to set a trap and stop his mischief.
After we read the book, we decided to set some of our own leprechaun traps around the house … just in case. We spent hours scheming and planning and trying our various kinds of traps. It was only later that the littlest guy grabbed my leg and – with tears in his eyes – admitted that he was afraid of leprechauns. I assured him that no leprechaun has EVER in the history of the universe ever hurt anyone. I assured him that they were happy … and just liked to play tricks.
Later, though we didn’t catch him, we did discover that he had taken some of our bait and exchanged it for gold coins made of chocolate.
I thought he was okay afterwards, but when his mother got home later that evening, he told her how afraid he was. She handled it much better, by telling him that there really is no such thing as a leprechaun … they are only imaginary. With great relief, he announced to his older brothers that there are no such things as leprechauns and that PopPop had played a trick on them… and the brothers promptly refuted him, because PopPop had been with them the WHOLE time, and COULDN’T POSSIBLY have switched the bait!
The good thing is that, by bedtime, everyone was satisfied with their own version of the truth … and – despite being imaginary – the leprechaun left even more chocolate coins to be discovered near the traps in the morning.
The story illustrates the power of the imagination … and how we believe the things that we WANT to be true… and how we scare ourselves with things that aren’t true. The older boys wanted to continue to believe … because it was fun and they were looking for more chocolate coins. The little guy wanted to believe the leprechaun was me, because that made the whole idea feel much less threatening.
What about you? Does your imagination work for you – or against you?
Do you allow your imagination to create images that are fun to play with … or are your images more of the scary variety? Do we get stuck in the literal … or can we play with the imaginary?
It is sort of like Santa Claus. Does he REALLY exist? Literally, no … and just the thought of him can be scary, but the idea of gifts that come from the sky (so to speak) is fun to think about … and, as adults, to embody.
My invitation for you today is to give permission to the imagination of your Inner Magnificence to have fun … to be playful … to take on the spirit of the leprechauns. And, when scary thoughts begin to creep in, remind yourself that there is superficial “truth” and there is deep Truth … and that Truth always reflects joy and goodness and light and love!
The extent to which you know that is the extent to which you’ll be able to say, “I feel good about being me!” … and that’s a promise!
