Shifting your perspective (the way you look at things) is one of the most powerful ways to change and improve the quality of your life experience. When you are able to adapt your point of view about the things happening in your life, and the meaning you give to events, then you can experience sudden and dramatic shifts in the circumstances of your life.

I invite you to try it for yourself and see! You can discover firsthand the tremendous power and freedom in your ability to adapt and change your point of view. Your whole worldview and the quality of your life experience can change when you shift your mindset.

When my son was a young boy, I used to tell him stories to teach him by the example the results of a character’s behavior in a story. Learning these basic principles can help you to live a more fulfilling and rewarding life.

Children (and adults too) can learn best when seeing the practical results of their misguided perceptions and behaviors. I’d like to share a few of these stories with you in a series of storytelling blogs.

I’ll conclude each story blog with a recommended essential oil to use that fits the principle being introduced and an archangel to assist you.

Today’s story was published in Cricket magazine back in the mid-1990s.

BASTIANELO

A Venetian Folk Tale

Retold by:  K G  Stiles

Long ago there lived a couple who had a son.  He was a bright, observant boy and he learned at a young age to ask intelligent questions.  One day when he felt old enough, he asked, “May I get married now?” 

His parents were delighted, and they answered, “Of course you may take a bride.  Whom do you wish to marry?”

“I like the blacksmith’s daughter,” he replied.

“Good choice,” they both agreed.

So the boy asked the girl to marry him.  She accepted, and they were married.  At the wedding banquet the boy noticed the wine was running low, so he told his new wife.

Wanting to show that she could take care of her guests, the girl went to the wine cellar to fill some empty jugs.  As she did this she thought, “Maybe I will give birth to a son and name him Bastianelo.”  She smiled happily.  Then she thought, "But, what if he dies?”  With this thought she began to weep.  She forgot all about the jugs she was filling, and the wine overflowed and covered the cellar floor.

After a time, people began to miss the girl.  Her mother offered to find out what was keeping her.  She went to the cellar and saw her daughter weeping, and asked, “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

Her daughter sobbed, “What if I should give birth to a son and name him Bastianelo, and then he dies?” 

Upon hearing this, the mother began to cry, and wine continued to fill the cellar.

After more time, the bride’s father said, “I'll go find out what’s keeping them.” Down in the cellar he saw his wife and daughter, knee deep in wine, hugging one another and crying.  He was amazed.  “What has made you so sad?” he asked.

“Nothing,” they cried. 

“Then why are you weeping?”

His daughter sobbed, “What if I should give birth to a son and name him Bastianelo, and then he dies?” 

Upon hearing this, the father began to cry, and wine continued to fill the cellar.

After still more time, the groom decided he’d go find out what was keeping everybody.  He arrived in the cellar and stared in disbelief at the three of them crying as they stood up to their hips in wine.  Shutting off the flow, he asked, “What’s going on?”

His bride sniffled. “I was thinking, what if I should give birth to a son and name him Bastianelo, and then he dies?” 

Her new husband was stunned.  “What absolute nonsense!  You’ve wasted this good wine, and for what?  I’m going away and I won’t return until I find three people as foolish as you.”  And he turned and left.

The boy traveled for many days.  On his way he met a man who was drenched with sweat and water.  He asked, “Why are you so wet?”

“Go away,” the man growled.  “I’m trying to fill this bucket.”

“Let me see.”  The boy looked at the bucket, then informed the man, “No wonder you can’t fill this.  The bottom’s rusted out.  I’ll fix it for you.”  And so he did.  

As the repaired bucket filled with water, the man cried, “Thank you!  Without your help, I would have been here forever.”

The boy smiled and thought, I’ve found at least one person as foolish as my wife and her parents.”

Later that day he saw a man dressed only in a shirt jumping out of a tree.  As the boy approached, he noticed a woman standing beneath the tree, holding a pair of pants. 

Astonished, he asked, “What are you doing?”  

“My husband is jumping down, trying to get into these pants,” the woman explained.

“And I’m tuckered out from trying,” complained the man.

“Come down,” the boy called.  “I’ll show you a better way to put them on.”

The man did as he was told, and after being shown how to put on pants, he said,

“Thank you!  Without your help, I would have been here forever.”

The boy smiled and thought, I’ve found two as foolish as my wife and her parents.   

As he approached the next town, he heard a great commotion.  A wedding procession had stopped at the town gates.  He asked what was going on and discovered that it was customary for every bride to ride on horseback through the town.  However, atop a horse this bride was too tall to fit through the town gates.  The people were discussing whether they should chop off the bride’s head, or the horse’s legs. 

Chuckling to himself, the boy asked the bride, “Would you please bow your head?”  She did and he slapped the horse, and both bride and horse went easily through the gates.  

“Thank you!” everyone cheered.  “Without your help, we would have been here forever.”

The young man smiled and thought, "Now I’ve found three as foolish as my wife and her parents.  It’s time to go home." 

He quickly returned and told his wife what he’d found and that he’d forgiven her stupidity. 

In time she gave birth to a son and they named him Bastianelo, and guess what!  Bastianelo didn’t die.  He grew up to have a child of his own.

___________________________

Questions:

What are the key takeaways for you in this story?

Have you spent time pondering negative fears about the future that really troubled you, but never happened?

Have you acted upon negative assumptions that resulted in negative consequences and then later found out that your negative assumptions turned out to be false?

Have imaginations about negative consequences in the future prevented you from taking action in the present, perhaps resulting in missed opportunities?

KGs Comments

Personally, I really liked that the groom went to look for three people more foolish than his bride and family. What did you think about this?

We can all be foolish and do foolish things. It’s whether we can recognize and learn from our foolishness that seems most important. Your thoughts?

I must confess that I’ve been very challenged in recent years when I see what I consider people’s foolishness. I don’t understand how people cannot see things that seem very obvious to me.

Have you been irritated by other people’s fearfulness and lack of understanding in your own life?

Or, have you ever felt confused by people's inability to see the ‘negative’ consequences of their behavior ahead of time?

If so, what have you done in either of these circumstances to find resolution and peace of mind?

Key Essential Oils to Shift Your Mindset

Cypress (Cupressus sempevirens) 

One of the most powerful astringent and detoxifying oils in aromatherapy. Pycho-emotionally Cypress has the capacity for softening a hardened heart that’s resistant to giving and receiving love. Its scent is beneficial for healing both the male and female psyche and can help you let go of old trapped and dead emotion.

Lemon (Citrus limon)

Highly astringent, the clean, fresh scent of lemon has long been associated with cleaning and detoxification and lemon essential oil is perfect for the task of clearing energy for yourself and your home. Before the Industrial Revolution, the natural DIY solutions for cleaning were lemon juice, vinegar and salt.

The fresh scent of lemon is THE most popular cleaning product and the number one scent of choice among shoppers. The scent of lemon reminds us of warm summer sunshine and its clean, fresh scent is associated with health and hygiene.

Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia) 

The sweet, fresh, clean, floral and herbaceous scent lavender is a popular favorite for many. Lavender is especially helpful for breaking the habit of negative self-talk.

• Reputation as a universal healer with all purpose application
• Classic oil for promoting relief of anger
• A sedative, relieves stress and anxiety
• Calms and soothes angry situations
• Psycho-emotionally excellent for breaking bad habits and negative self talk
  

Archangel to Assist You

Raphael “God Heals” - Defender of the East, Raphael represents the air element in nature. S/he helps with physical healing, as well as helps you heal your mind, mental thoughts, body and soul life energy field. Raphael can help your mind to heal and help you be more flexible in your attitudes and perspectives. Raphael has a reputation for helping with issues related to overcoming and healing away addictions. The patron angel of those in the healing professions and the field of medicine, emerald green is the color associated with Raphael.

A shift in your 'Inner' attitude away from looking at things from fear, judgment and resistance to acceptance starts a process of reorganization and rebalancing of your entire “nervous” system. This re-balancing of your nervous system naturally gives rise to a relaxed state of awareness and well-being in the present moment.

This change in your nervous system supports a shift in your perception about the world and helps to open you up to seeing the world differently

Your nervous system is the physical counterpart of your mind, and so once your nervous system begins to reorganize to a more balanced state, your mind will naturally begin to calm down and life will flow more harmoniously.