back, “Power to conquer!” She
walked off the stage and we all got up to leave.
Han and I just looked at each other and stood
up. “Hey, Abe sent me to get Andy,” said a boy about my age and
height. “I will be your trainer.” He looked surprisingly muscular
for his age.
“That’s me!” I tried to act more confident
than I felt and shook his hand. “What about Han here?”
“That would be my job,” came the voice of a
girl. When I turned to see her I was surprised at how pretty she
was and how short.
I could tell Han was a bit embarrassed.
“Sorry about that,” I whispered to Han. He just nodded back.
“Follow me,” said the boy. “I already got a
training room checked out for us.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem,” he said, “My name is
Derek.”
“Hi Derek.” He led me through the hall and
down a series of turns so that by the time we found our training
room I was totally lost.
“Here we are,” he said. “Room 54.”
We stepped inside to a small rectangular
room. The floor had a blue mat on the ground, like the rooms I saw
on the way in, and on it, to one side, I saw a strange collection
of objects lined up along the wall: a punching bag, a unicycle, a
set of dice in a clear box, a stack of notebooks, some pens and
crayons, a small stack of books, a jar of pickles, two bowling
balls, two pillows, a double-bladed axe, a cheap guitar, a large
flashlight, some Legos, and a small, broken laptop.
Derek turned to me and smiled. “Two targets
today: focus and confusing the enemy. Since you’re new, we’ll
probably spend most of the time on focus. What have you got?”
“I've only got me,” I said.
“Right,” he said, “but how can you improve on
the power that already comes naturally?”
“Improve?” I asked.
“Yes. The whole point of this practice is to
focus your power. Have you learned how to do that?”
I looked at him, confused. “You can do
that?'
“Okay, I see we’re starting from scratch
here,” he said. “They should have brought you through the basic
training module first, but I'll give you the highlights.”
“I can't take you through all five
disciplines of course, but I can tell you a little. This power you
have originates in your brain. In order to focus it, you must have
control over your thoughts. You have to focus on your goal,
ignoring all else.”
“Okay,” I said. “What do I do?”
“I can tell your gift influences a person’s
emotions because I can feel it, but I don’t know the details.” If
he just knew about that smile of his. “How about you focus that on
your target and then make it bigger than life in your mind. This is
like using your imagination, but stronger. It just means you think
about what you want to do and concentrate on it.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll try.”
“To begin, imagine what it is you want to
accomplish.”
Since all I could do was get people to like
me or help me, I focused on getting Derek to pat me on the back. It
felt silly, but I did it. I tried to focus, imagining him taking
steps over to me to pat me on the back. I saw him doing this in my
mind. I was surprised when at that moment I felt a solid pat on my
back a few times. It somehow didn’t feel right that I was
manipulating this guy. “Hey, I’m sure you can do it if you try,” he
said.
“I just did,” I said.
“Really? Was that your goal, to get me to pat
you on the back?”
“That was it,” I said.
“Wow,” he said. “I thought I came up with
that on my own. I just felt like giving you a pat on the back. If I
knew better, and was trying to resist, I would have been able to.
If, however, I didn’t know you had such a power at all, I would
have been putty in your hands. Now let's keep working on this. Pick
another thing, and try not to embarrass me too much.”
This went on for a couple more hours and I
got him to give me a handshake, pick up something I dropped, and
even give me a backrub. I still wasn’t sure I felt right
walked off the stage and we all got up to leave.
Han and I just looked at each other and stood
up. “Hey, Abe sent me to get Andy,” said a boy about my age and
height. “I will be your trainer.” He looked surprisingly muscular
for his age.
“That’s me!” I tried to act more confident
than I felt and shook his hand. “What about Han here?”
“That would be my job,” came the voice of a
girl. When I turned to see her I was surprised at how pretty she
was and how short.
I could tell Han was a bit embarrassed.
“Sorry about that,” I whispered to Han. He just nodded back.
“Follow me,” said the boy. “I already got a
training room checked out for us.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem,” he said, “My name is
Derek.”
“Hi Derek.” He led me through the hall and
down a series of turns so that by the time we found our training
room I was totally lost.
“Here we are,” he said. “Room 54.”
We stepped inside to a small rectangular
room. The floor had a blue mat on the ground, like the rooms I saw
on the way in, and on it, to one side, I saw a strange collection
of objects lined up along the wall: a punching bag, a unicycle, a
set of dice in a clear box, a stack of notebooks, some pens and
crayons, a small stack of books, a jar of pickles, two bowling
balls, two pillows, a double-bladed axe, a cheap guitar, a large
flashlight, some Legos, and a small, broken laptop.
Derek turned to me and smiled. “Two targets
today: focus and confusing the enemy. Since you’re new, we’ll
probably spend most of the time on focus. What have you got?”
“I've only got me,” I said.
“Right,” he said, “but how can you improve on
the power that already comes naturally?”
“Improve?” I asked.
“Yes. The whole point of this practice is to
focus your power. Have you learned how to do that?”
I looked at him, confused. “You can do
that?'
“Okay, I see we’re starting from scratch
here,” he said. “They should have brought you through the basic
training module first, but I'll give you the highlights.”
“I can't take you through all five
disciplines of course, but I can tell you a little. This power you
have originates in your brain. In order to focus it, you must have
control over your thoughts. You have to focus on your goal,
ignoring all else.”
“Okay,” I said. “What do I do?”
“I can tell your gift influences a person’s
emotions because I can feel it, but I don’t know the details.” If
he just knew about that smile of his. “How about you focus that on
your target and then make it bigger than life in your mind. This is
like using your imagination, but stronger. It just means you think
about what you want to do and concentrate on it.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll try.”
“To begin, imagine what it is you want to
accomplish.”
Since all I could do was get people to like
me or help me, I focused on getting Derek to pat me on the back. It
felt silly, but I did it. I tried to focus, imagining him taking
steps over to me to pat me on the back. I saw him doing this in my
mind. I was surprised when at that moment I felt a solid pat on my
back a few times. It somehow didn’t feel right that I was
manipulating this guy. “Hey, I’m sure you can do it if you try,” he
said.
“I just did,” I said.
“Really? Was that your goal, to get me to pat
you on the back?”
“That was it,” I said.
“Wow,” he said. “I thought I came up with
that on my own. I just felt like giving you a pat on the back. If I
knew better, and was trying to resist, I would have been able to.
If, however, I didn’t know you had such a power at all, I would
have been putty in your hands. Now let's keep working on this. Pick
another thing, and try not to embarrass me too much.”
This went on for a couple more hours and I
got him to give me a handshake, pick up something I dropped, and
even give me a backrub. I still wasn’t sure I felt right
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