(This story has two endings. Decide which one you like better. Go with it.)
Joe spent his entire life listening to the angel on his right shoulder and the devil on his left. It was exhausting as they had very different voices and each tried to affect his reaction to life in different ways. The devil pointed out all the bad in the world, taught him negative self-talk and showed him how to wallow in misery. The angel, on the other hand, tried to enlighten Joe to all the gifts bestowed upon him and wanted to teach him that even hard times provided gifts of knowledge and growth if you just knew how to see them right.
Joe's life has not been an easy one. He has seen more than his share of heartbreak and hard times. There were plenty of good times as well, but the difficulties seemed to outweigh them. With so much negativity to work through, Joe had the feeling the devil was taking the upper hand in influencing his thoughts.
One day, at the end of his rope, Joe threw his arms up grasping fists full of hair on either side of his head, and begged the angel for help. "Please! Angel! I cannot take any more of the devil's negativity! His voice is so strong and loud and angry! I hear you singing praise. I hear you whispering loving words of encouragement and positivity. I hear you pointing out the good in everything, yet the devil's persistent anger is reaching a deafening level! Please! I beg of you! Help me beat this devil back!"
Ending #1 - With such a desperate plea for help upon him, the angel acted instantly, hopping over to the devil's shoulder and beat the devil senseless. Joe was thrilled! The angel won!
"I knew you had my back!" cried Joe.
Battered and shaken, the devil could hardly believed what just occurred. After a few shaky minutes he stood up, composed himself, regained his sinister look and said to the angel, "Welcome to the dark side!"
Joe then realized that the angel's quick response to his plea of battle had not saved him at all. His angel had fallen.
Ending #2 - The angel heard Joe's plea and wanted to help but he knew the best thing to do was to take his time and respond appropriately. After some head scratching and halo buffing he had an idea.
"Hey devil!" the angel hollered to get his attention. "I'm starting to understand how badly you want to win Joe over so you can make him miserable forever. I would also love to have Joe to myself to fill his mind with goodness. Well guess what? I just discovered the key to winning!"
"Oh yeah?" the devil hollered back venomously. "What is it?"
"Come over here and I'll tell you!" teased the angel.
Never one to turn down an instigation, the devil hopped over to the shoulder occupied by the angel.
"So what's your bright idea little winged man?" the devil teased.
"There's only one way to win." the angel whispered. "You need some of this."
The angel filled his heart with radiant love and blew the devil a kiss. The devil was not prepared to accept such a gift, lost his footing and fell
~ Lynn Retzlaff
(changed #2 ending slightly as comments were gently suggesting. thank you for your comments!)
6 comments:
I like the second ending better except I would prefer that the devil didn't die. It is good to have both sides as long as the good side wins most often.
Of course I enjoy 'love' winning! Great story :)
Thought you were a happily ever after sort. Both endings are great, one of surprise, the other love wins. Let's choose love, shall we?
What a great story with a very strong moral. Brill!
I like both endings but would prefer love to win. Very cool and the best part is it makes me think. Here's what I'm thinking: There needs to be balance. Yin and yang. You can't have light without dark, sweet without sour etc. So if the devil dies would the goodness stop existing too???
Interesting. Two comments with concern over losing the devil.
I guess my take on it was this... the angel and the devil in this story represent the opposing forces driving the man's self-talk. They were merely the choices he had on how to respond to life. It was a personal battle on how to view life. In the past he was able to view life in positive ways (i.e. influenced by positivity) but the negative views and feelings tended to be stronger and were becoming an overwhelming force. He was feeling as if the devil (the bad thoughts) were winning him over. Fearing he would slip into permanent depression, he wanted to fight off the devil (bad voices) and be once and for all capable of living his life viewing the world with a positive and loving mind.
There will always be sadness and evil in the world, it's how you are able to process it that determines how it will affect you.
At least that's what I had in mind when I wrote it!
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it!
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