My Big Toe

p. 111 - You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy by James Blanchard Cisneros.

I'm not sure what the record is in the “Guinness Book of World Records” for stubbing your toe, but there was a time during a two-month period when I had to be close to that record. Every time I stubbed my toe, I uttered an expletive, or at least thought an expletive. I had been taught by watching others react this way. It was the "normal and acceptable" way to react to such an incident. It was the way I had been unconsciously trained to react. My friends reacted this way, so I felt that it was fine. Yet, little by little, I became uncomfortable with such a reaction. One day, I decided that there must be a better, more positive way to react to such an incident.

I needed to clarify my goal - I want a more peaceful and positive way of reacting to the act of stubbing my toe. So I'm walking my dog Texas, thinking about how I can react more peacefully in such an instance, and all of a sudden, within my head, I hear "Thank me!" It literally sounded like I had a small stereo installed in the middle of my brain. The echo of those words was so clear that I felt it touch every cell in my head. I turned to Texas, hoping he had heard it too. Just as I did, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, and to my amazement, the words that came out of me were not expletives, but "Thank you God!" "Wow," I thought to myself. "That's a real nice thing to say in response to such an event." I then decided that I would train myself to thank God every time I stubbed my toe, so little by little, I did just that. Before I knew it, I was thanking God for the times I tripped and almost fell. In every situation that I used to react with some kind of expletive or negative thought, I retrained myself to simply thank God for the situation. Immediately, without thinking, I said, "Thank you God" every time I tripped or stubbed my toe, and I felt really good about it. Wouldn't you know that soon after I learned this, I stopped stubbing my toe and tripping. Now, whenever I trip or stub my toe (I'm glad to report that the incidents are now under the national average), I simply thank God, and this reaction feels natural, positive and peaceful.