Freeing the Bull in the Barbed Wire
I've had an amazing experience of the power of believing in someone. I have, for well over 10 years, put my faith in a friend who has been plagued by more than his share of traumas, and who often flailed about and hurt people close to him because of the wounds. He could be wise, mystical, generous, smart, and compassionate, alternating with outbursts of vehement anger and controlling behavior. I thought of him sometimes as a bull tangled in a barbed-wire fence. He often hurt me as much as he helped me. For some odd reason, though, I never rejected him, but kept talking to him about who I saw behind his gapped, polarized actions and thought patterns. I've always believed that people live up to how you see them. In his case, this is becoming true at last. Deep healing and insights come when they're ready, not necessarily when you want them to. Recently, certain trigger events in his life catalyzed a drama that helped him feel through to the deep causes of his suffering, and showed him how to correct his thinking. The elegance of it was awesome. And the speed of his transformation was too. It makes me so happy, because my whole life is based on the premise that transformation of fear into love is possible in any situation. Sometimes with very dense or stuck cases, there is a tendency to doubt. But deep down, I know. Love does conquer all.