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A man came home one night to find his home burgled. The thieves had taken only a single item; one of his most precious, life-long possessions. He became so distraught he squeezed his eyes shut to escape the sight of the empty place where it once resided. He thought that if he avoided looking at the emptiness he would be able to hold on to the item and avoid the pain of its loss.
Months went by and still the man kept his eyes shut. The outside world was much too dangerous so he mostly confined himself to his house now. These days he felt more accustomed to the darkness, though he still bumped into things now and then. He just took that as par for the course; sometimes you had to suffer a little to avoid suffering a lot.
His closest friends often tried to coax him into opening his eyes, but the memory of finding his cherished item gone still remained so vivid and painful that he never gave in, regardless of how reasonable their requests sounded. With time he started to suspect that his friends made such painful suggestions because they actually disliked him, so he stopped asking them to come over.
Years went by and the man felt totally comfortable in his self-created darkness. He didn't feel so miserable without his friends telling him about all the things he missed out on. True, an emptiness grew in him day by day, to the point where he almost felt tempted to have a quick peak. But the fear of letting go of his precious possession grew steadily over the years, even while the memory of it faded, so he never gave in.
Then one day as he walked through his lounge room something hit him squarely in the chest and knocked him to the floor. Then came a blow to the side of his head. Then another. Then another. His only thought was that the thieves were back to finish him off. Fear for his life grew stronger than the fear of his loss, and so after many years of darkness he opened his eyes.
He blinked in confusion as he saw standing over him those people he once called friends. In complete misery he could only ask, "Why?"
"So you would see."
"Do you hate me that much?"
"We love you that much. Just look."
And so he did.
In amazement the man looked around to see his home filled with beauty and splendour. He saw wonderful new gifts from his friends and forgotten old possessions. All these years he'd blocked out the magnificent abundance in his life just to avoid the emptiness left by one thing. All these years he'd affectively lost everything by trying to hold on to what had been taken from him.
With tears of gratitude rolling down his face he embraced everyone, realising that in spite of his fear and stupidity, in spite of his rejection, they still loved him. All they'd ever done came from unconditional love.
Some days later as he walked down the hallway feeling thankful for all that he now saw in his life, he put his hand in his pocket and felt a familiar object. It was a small item that he'd found in a corner a few weeks after his self-imposed blindness. He didn't know what it was but it felt interesting, so he'd carried it around in his pocket ever since. With curiosity he pulled it out to finally discover its identity.
In shock he stared at it. It didn't look as he remembered, but without a shadow of a doubt he held in his hand the item he'd lost all those years ago.
To think, it had been with him all the time, he'd just needed to let go and see.
Written by Lisa Frost
Absurdly Improbable
www.absurdlyimprobable.com
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