Foxy Woxy
Mercy me. I just finished my workout at the gym followed by breakfast. While on the treadmill I listened to CBS news on the television. While having breakfast I read the local newspaper.
Although there is the occasional good news story, it does seem as if the bulk of the news is about doom and gloom. In my role as an addiction counselor and a general life coach, I am also working for/with a number of individuals who are really struggling with the feeling that “the sky is falling” – that events which have happened to them or to people they love or to the general state of the world in which we humans continue to destroy each other at an alarming rate are going to have disastrous results.
The sky has been falling for a very long time. There have been stories of the sky is falling for as long as we humans have been living. Although these stories may not been written down in their current form until the middle of the 19th century, we humans have been predicting the end of the world as we know it for a very long time. Whether the end was to be visited upon we humans by an angry God or Gods or by the wolf who may have eaten the animal on its way to warn the king (President, whomever), the life of the individual or the world as it was currently known was to be no more unless one could warn the king or queen who would take action to prevent the sky from falling.
Many in the United States of America read the version of this story whose main character is Chicken Little. Wikipedia reminds us however:
“In most retellings, the animals have rhyming names, commonly Chicken Licken or Chicken Little, Henny Penny or Hen-Len, Cocky Locky, Ducky Lucky or Ducky Daddles, Drakey Lakey, Goosey Loosey or Goosey Poosey, Gander Lander, Turkey Lurkey and Foxy Loxy or Foxy Woxy.”
I have decided that my personal favorite for today is Foxy Woxy. It has a sort of a ring to it, doesn’t it? Of course, since my mother’s maiden name is Drake, I am also rather fond of Drakey Lakey. Then again Cocky Locky has a certain ring to it.
Various situations or even brain conditions can birth the “truth” about the imminent fall of the sky. Certainly, the clarity of thinking about this issue improves the closer one is to an event such as the Presidential primaries in the United States, a war such as the one which is raging in Syria, or the action of the infidels as predicted by the radical Christians, Muslims, or the representatives of other religions. The feeding of certain beliefs can also improve the ability to envision the fall of the sky. We humans can convince ourselves that the death of a love relationship, the refusal of a relationship to die, the death of a loved one, especially a child, the loss of a job, the need to cull our home of all that we have accumulated, the death of a car, or any number of life events can jump start the journey from here to the sky to the wave of energy which is so well described by the string theory.
Depression, obsessive compulsive illness, a history of being told that one is weak, ineffective, and worthless and coming to believe those lies, a history of abuse and many other condition can wipe out the ability of one’s mind to access a more balanced view of oneself or the world. The lies become the truth and “the truth shall trap us in despair” becomes our reality.
If one says to someone that Foxy Woxy is lying and one has to quit buying into the lies of Foxy Woxy, one may be accused of making light of the eminent fall of the sky.
If I was a political candidate or a passionate religious leader, the conversation might go as follows:
FW (Foxy Woxy): I am here to tell you that unless you listen to me you are doomed to death – eternal death. Do you want this on your conscience of all of eternity? Only X can save you from this eternal damnation!
Self: Ahh. I don’t know. I don’t know if I believe you.
FW: The sinful and the weak always want to avoid the truth. I tell you that unless…
One could, of course, go on and on until FW wears one down and one begins to believe him/her/it/them. One could also:
Correct the lie each and every time it appears, pat Foxy Woxy on the head and say, “There, there we will take care of that terrible lie which threatens to bring down the sky.” It is, after all the lie which turns out to be the villain. Foxy Woxy is the lie. Cute little Foxy Woxy is the problem. Bless him/her/it.
Remind oneself that if the sky falls it falls, one cannot control a lot of what goes on.
Surround oneself with others who are going to tell the lies to buzz off! For example, this morning while at the gym, I was listening to a Ted Talk (surpise!) by Patience Mthunzi whose talk is entitled: “Could we cure HIV with lasers.” If one goggles Patience Mthumzi one get a link to Ted.com and finds out the following about this amazing woman:
“Patience Mthunzi is a research group leader at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria, South Africa. There, she uses laser "tweezers" to try and separate diseased cells from healthy ones. She's also developed a way to use laser pulses to target drug delivery into cells.
Born in Soweto, Patience got her PhD in physics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In 2012, she was named one of 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa by Forbes magazine; that same year she was given the Order of Mapungubwe for her contribution in the field of biophotonics. She's also a TED Fellow.”
It is possible that she and other researchers could find a way to use laser pulses instead of medication and cure illness such as the HIV virus which hides inside of cells? Yes, I said cures.
Unlike Chicken Little or Foxy Woxy some of we humans such as Patience Mthunzi are convinced that we can find a way to keep the sky from falling. These are the same people or type of thinker who did not panic when the Ebola virus arrived for its visit or the person who believes in the face of all evidence to the contrary that we humans can find a way to peacefully resolve the situations such as the one in Syria or the one between the Palestinians and the State of Israel.
All it takes to hold up the sky is a Pope Francis who is willing to take the leap of faith that the 1000-year old rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church can be healed. Really! Foxy Woxy says, “A thousand years! No way.” Pope Francis says, “We are brothers” to Patriarch Kirill. (Tampa Tribune, February 13, 2015,p 1, “Pope, patriarch end 1,000-year Christian rift” by Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press)
There, there Foxy Woxy!!
Written February 13, 2016
Mercy me. I just finished my workout at the gym followed by breakfast. While on the treadmill I listened to CBS news on the television. While having breakfast I read the local newspaper.
Although there is the occasional good news story, it does seem as if the bulk of the news is about doom and gloom. In my role as an addiction counselor and a general life coach, I am also working for/with a number of individuals who are really struggling with the feeling that “the sky is falling” – that events which have happened to them or to people they love or to the general state of the world in which we humans continue to destroy each other at an alarming rate are going to have disastrous results.
The sky has been falling for a very long time. There have been stories of the sky is falling for as long as we humans have been living. Although these stories may not been written down in their current form until the middle of the 19th century, we humans have been predicting the end of the world as we know it for a very long time. Whether the end was to be visited upon we humans by an angry God or Gods or by the wolf who may have eaten the animal on its way to warn the king (President, whomever), the life of the individual or the world as it was currently known was to be no more unless one could warn the king or queen who would take action to prevent the sky from falling.
Many in the United States of America read the version of this story whose main character is Chicken Little. Wikipedia reminds us however:
“In most retellings, the animals have rhyming names, commonly Chicken Licken or Chicken Little, Henny Penny or Hen-Len, Cocky Locky, Ducky Lucky or Ducky Daddles, Drakey Lakey, Goosey Loosey or Goosey Poosey, Gander Lander, Turkey Lurkey and Foxy Loxy or Foxy Woxy.”
I have decided that my personal favorite for today is Foxy Woxy. It has a sort of a ring to it, doesn’t it? Of course, since my mother’s maiden name is Drake, I am also rather fond of Drakey Lakey. Then again Cocky Locky has a certain ring to it.
Various situations or even brain conditions can birth the “truth” about the imminent fall of the sky. Certainly, the clarity of thinking about this issue improves the closer one is to an event such as the Presidential primaries in the United States, a war such as the one which is raging in Syria, or the action of the infidels as predicted by the radical Christians, Muslims, or the representatives of other religions. The feeding of certain beliefs can also improve the ability to envision the fall of the sky. We humans can convince ourselves that the death of a love relationship, the refusal of a relationship to die, the death of a loved one, especially a child, the loss of a job, the need to cull our home of all that we have accumulated, the death of a car, or any number of life events can jump start the journey from here to the sky to the wave of energy which is so well described by the string theory.
Depression, obsessive compulsive illness, a history of being told that one is weak, ineffective, and worthless and coming to believe those lies, a history of abuse and many other condition can wipe out the ability of one’s mind to access a more balanced view of oneself or the world. The lies become the truth and “the truth shall trap us in despair” becomes our reality.
If one says to someone that Foxy Woxy is lying and one has to quit buying into the lies of Foxy Woxy, one may be accused of making light of the eminent fall of the sky.
If I was a political candidate or a passionate religious leader, the conversation might go as follows:
FW (Foxy Woxy): I am here to tell you that unless you listen to me you are doomed to death – eternal death. Do you want this on your conscience of all of eternity? Only X can save you from this eternal damnation!
Self: Ahh. I don’t know. I don’t know if I believe you.
FW: The sinful and the weak always want to avoid the truth. I tell you that unless…
One could, of course, go on and on until FW wears one down and one begins to believe him/her/it/them. One could also:
Correct the lie each and every time it appears, pat Foxy Woxy on the head and say, “There, there we will take care of that terrible lie which threatens to bring down the sky.” It is, after all the lie which turns out to be the villain. Foxy Woxy is the lie. Cute little Foxy Woxy is the problem. Bless him/her/it.
Remind oneself that if the sky falls it falls, one cannot control a lot of what goes on.
Surround oneself with others who are going to tell the lies to buzz off! For example, this morning while at the gym, I was listening to a Ted Talk (surpise!) by Patience Mthunzi whose talk is entitled: “Could we cure HIV with lasers.” If one goggles Patience Mthumzi one get a link to Ted.com and finds out the following about this amazing woman:
“Patience Mthunzi is a research group leader at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria, South Africa. There, she uses laser "tweezers" to try and separate diseased cells from healthy ones. She's also developed a way to use laser pulses to target drug delivery into cells.
Born in Soweto, Patience got her PhD in physics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In 2012, she was named one of 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa by Forbes magazine; that same year she was given the Order of Mapungubwe for her contribution in the field of biophotonics. She's also a TED Fellow.”
It is possible that she and other researchers could find a way to use laser pulses instead of medication and cure illness such as the HIV virus which hides inside of cells? Yes, I said cures.
Unlike Chicken Little or Foxy Woxy some of we humans such as Patience Mthunzi are convinced that we can find a way to keep the sky from falling. These are the same people or type of thinker who did not panic when the Ebola virus arrived for its visit or the person who believes in the face of all evidence to the contrary that we humans can find a way to peacefully resolve the situations such as the one in Syria or the one between the Palestinians and the State of Israel.
All it takes to hold up the sky is a Pope Francis who is willing to take the leap of faith that the 1000-year old rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church can be healed. Really! Foxy Woxy says, “A thousand years! No way.” Pope Francis says, “We are brothers” to Patriarch Kirill. (Tampa Tribune, February 13, 2015,p 1, “Pope, patriarch end 1,000-year Christian rift” by Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press)
There, there Foxy Woxy!!
Written February 13, 2016
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