Choose to Change | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Choose to Change | Previous Challenge Entry
By ANN JACOBS
01/05/20
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Sally, twelve years old, was a picture of her grandmother. Ani, in her youth, flaunted locks of auburn hair that rested on her shoulders. Her freckles, even now, matched her feisty character from way back then. The spots that still adorn her face, arms and legs, boast of red and orange tones. Sally inherited much of her grandmother’s traits.

This day, Sally had just woken from a sleepover at Gran’s.
‘Morning my love’, Ani shared as Sally was rousing. ‘Sleep well’? Ani asked.
‘No Gran.’ Sally said wiping the muck Mr. Sandman left in her eyes. ‘I had so many dreams, and I don’t want to even think about the horrible ones.’
‘At times, it’s better not to’, said Ani. Sally sat up and dangled her legs over the side of the bed.

‘What’s a dream Gran; Where do they come from? Why do we even have them and how come they’re so different? Ani smiled when she heard Sally’s echoing words.
‘Gosh Sally, so many questions. Get dressed, and meet me in the garden’. Sally jumped up and soon found herself sitting beside her gran, swinging on a garden chair and drinking hot chocolate. Ani launched her dream lesson.

‘A dream is a series of thoughts, images, and feelings. It may be fantasy; something you imagine, or visualize, and it leaves you feeling a certain way. Dreams we enjoy or delight in, we want to relive. They’re a wonder and a pleasure to think about. Nightmares, are dreams we want to forget. Ani sat quiet for a moment trying to think of an example for Sally but Sally’s words popped her thought bubble.
‘Go on Gran, tell me more’.

‘I would say dreams are supernatural’ Ani said, ‘therefore, we can’t plan a dream’. As Christians, we can even choose to believe they are messages from God. Stories in a dream might be a blessing or a warning, or even words from the Lord’. Sally frowned. ‘But how would I know what they are’, she asked.
‘Sally, whatever, you want to know, always ask God first, and then, you must have an ear to listen’.

Sally sat sipping while thinking. One leg, was pushing the swing into motion. Ani broke the silence.
‘Sally, your calm demeanour has just shown me you were day dreaming which is another characteristic of a dream. Sally responded. ‘I was day dreaming Gran, and wondering what can I do about the awful feelings dreams leave us with. How do I make myself feel better’?

Slowly, Ani took hold of Sally’s empty mug and threaded her forefinger through the handles.
‘I believe’, Ani said, ‘that we can choose to change how we feel. Dreams leave us feeling a certain way however, we can change that’. Now, feeling surprised, Sally turned to face Ani. Her frown revealed how lost she was and how desperate she was to be found. Ani continued.

‘Behaviour is effected by feelings, for example, people can detect if you are happy, sad, lonely, excited or even otherwise. Feelings are a result from an experience; something that has happened. A dream is an experience, whether good or bad’.
‘Gran, you said we can change our feelings; how’?

‘Well, to change from feeling awful you must choose to think of something nice and appealing; something contrary to awful. Then you replace any bad thoughts with new pleasing ones. Sally my love, you can choose how to feel by changing the way you think and believe. Think about feelings and then think about their opposites, for example, if you are feeling sad, replace that feeling with a time when you felt happy.

Remember Sally’, Ani said,’ change what you can and ask God to do the rest’.

ENDS 627 WORDS.

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