This is probably where our story could finish, but in reality that is not where it ends. You see,
Charlie saw something that nobody else saw and couldn’t see from the deck below... and it certainly
wasn’t a ghost. He lifted his binoculars to his eyes to make doubly sure. There, floating dead ahead,
was a large, semi-submerged metal container that had obviously fallen from a cargo ship. Charlie
called his warning, the captain ordered the helmsman to alter course, and the ship—along with all its
crew—was saved.
Charlie was a hero. Not only had he saved the ship, but he had also conquered the myth of the
old-time sailor’s ghost seeking to destroy any solo climber on his way to the crow’s nest—for himself
as well as for others. He became a regular member of the crew after that, showing new trainees how to
climb alone to the crow’s nest without fear of the old-time sailor’s ghost. “It’s not just a matter of check-
ing for safety and taking it step by step,” he told them, “but how you direct your thoughts. Look ahead,
imagine where you want to be, think how it will feel when you arrive, and the ghost won’t bother you.”
And, do you know, the story they tell aboard now is different? It says that when they got to port
at the end of Charlie’s voyage, the ghost jumped ship and was never heard of again.
STORY 23
SEE FOR YOURSELFTherapeutic Characteristics
Problems Addressed
■ Fear
■ Imagining the worst
■ Not assessing accurately
■ Failure to reality test
■ Believing what you think
■ Listening to others without discriminationResources Developed
■ Learning to discriminate
■ Learning to reality check
■ Learning when to use fear
■ Learning when to let fear goOutcomes Offered
■ Skills in discrimination
■ Reality testing
■ Personal growth through learning
■ Management of fear
A timid white, fluffy rabbit once lived by the shore of a sparkling blue lake. Would you like to
give the rabbit a name? Or shall we just call it the little white fluffy rabbit?
86 Healing Stories, Teaching Stories