Fighter Healer Shaman

By Dr. Darren R.J. LaLonde D.C.

Struck by Lightning while playing alone in the backyard standing on the picnic table with his wooden sword in a rainstorm, a small boy everyone called Peanuts: he was so little lying in the mud looking up at the sky. While feeling an incredible connection with the universe yet not sure he was alive or dead?
Abandoned by his parents and placed into foster care. Dyln learns to play football and fight to survive his childhood. Turns out he may have what it takes to become one of the best fighters in the world. Tempted by sex, drugs and music through death and tragedy, Dylan fights for his life to stay on the love word path.
Fighting in his daily life and in sports, Dylan was also discovering how to heal himself so he could become instrumental in healing others. He was learning that true Holistic Health meant finding the balance between his mind, body, and spirit, while dealing with the extreme behaviors and events in his life that challenge the universal laws affecting the pillars and balance of his health. Dylan was awakening to the realization that the transformation he was experiencing in his life was like that of caterpillar becoming a butterfly. And that, ultimately, he was put on earth as a fighter and a healer on an incredible journey to become a Shaman!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798765237779

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Copyright © 2023 Dr. Darren R.J. LaLonde, D.C..

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 979-8-7652-3776-2 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3777-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:  01/04/2023

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

About The Author

Chapter I First Love

Chapter II Lighting Strikes

Chapter III Bear Attack

Chapter IV Toughman

Chapter V Bet Your Life

Chapter VI Fighter Healer Shaman

SPORTS FICTION - DRAMA - NEW AGE

Struck by Lightning while playing alone in the backyard standing on the picnic table with his wooden sword in a rainstorm, a small boy everyone called Peanuts: he was so little lying in the mud looking up at the sky. While feeling an incredible connection with the universe yet not sure he was alive or dead?

Abandoned by his parents and placed into foster care, Dylan learns how to play football and fight to survive his childhood. Turns out he may have what it takes to become one of the best fighters in the world. Tempted by sex, drugs, and music through death and tragedy, Dylan fights for his life to stay on the love word path.

Fighting in his daily life and in sports, Dylan was also discovering how to heal himself so he could become instrumental in healing others. He was learning that true Holistic Health meant finding the balance between his mind, body, and spirit, while dealing with the extreme behaviors and events in his life that challenge the universal laws affecting the pillars and balance of his health, Dylan was awakening to the realization that the transformation he was experiencing in his life was like that of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. And that, ultimately, he was put on earth as a fighter and healer on an incredible journey to become a Shaman!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I t all started when I was five, lol. Beginning as a kid the heroes I admired in my experience that inspired me in the fictional world was Grizzly Adams in the first movie I ever saw in 1974. Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Adams abandons society. Fighting for his freedom he disappears into the wilderness with a bear. A few years later, I went to see the movie Rocky a boxing story that even at a young age I believed was a story about a man fighting for love. And the Incredible Hulk, my favorite superhero, for his ability to use his superpower to turn anger into actions done with love.

Inspirations from reality and the football world are Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor, and Brett Favre. From my personal football experience I would like to share a few honorable mentions. Coach Mike Morencie A.K.O Fratmen, Bob Williams E.M.U and to every player I stepped onto the gridiron and played for or against. Teams Nantais Sport Shop, Kingsville High, Assumption Purple Raiders, A.K.O., Eastern Michigan, U of Windsor., U.B.C. (At 32yrs of age), C.F.L. Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Rough Riders practice roster and all the school yard dawgs I faced my entire childhood.

Inspirations from professional boxing World Champions Golden Boy LaLonde, Marvin Hagler, Roy Jones, Jr. and Smokin Joe Frazier. Boxing manager Dave Wolfe. Trainer Bill Grant, Windsor Boxing Club. Freddy Roach, WildCard Boxing Gym Hollywood Ca., and Macka Foley, Fortunes Gym Hollywood Ca.

Inspirations from the friends and family list is vast having lived in a dozen foster homes as a young boy. I have too many people to mention but I will would like to list a few. Foster parents Doug and Annette Topliffe and the Charrettes. And countless others that have taken me in and housed, sheltered, and fed me for spans of time along the various homeless periods of my youth. My Mother for teaching me how to survive with tough love until the age of 13 when I was placed in foster care. My Father for the test of forgiveness at the age of 5 that much later in life I would eventually pass. And to the rest of my friends that remind me each and every time I think of them that the whole wide world is my family.

Now to acknowledge the people in my past or present life related to the characters of this amazing storybook adventure and future movie entitled Fighter Healer Shaman. Special thanks to Hall of Fame trainer Freddy Roach, owner of Wildcard Boxing Gym in Hollywood Ca. I have had the pleasure of working the corner with the hall of fame trainer as well as provide Chiropractic to Mr. Roach and many of his fighters beginning in 2003. Freddy’s Wildcard Boxing Gym is second to none and respected globally for raising a fighter’s mindset and developing the fighting skills from the minute you walk in the gym. From beginners and amateurs to the countless World Champions trained by Roach, everyone at his gym is treated like a champion.

Special mention of the Legend Macka Foley who is a main character in this story and was one of the best friends Dr. LaLonde ever had in his life meeting one another at Wildcard Gym in 2003. Macka re-located and moved to Fortunes Gym on Sunset Blvd owned by Annie Frap and her husband in Hollywood Ca., with the gym motto Go Hard or Go Home, both lead by example with hard work and dedication to the sweet science. Annie Frap was the woman’s touch the boxing gym needed and Macka loved her like she was his own daughter. The two of them inspire the backdrop of the atmosphere and much of the laughter shared at the gym in this story many fighters and members call home since 2008. Macka considered Fortunes to be his last boxing home that he would ever be apart of. While his memory will live on eternally, the Legend passed on August 3, 2015.

Honorable personal inspirational mention goes to two of the greatest humanitarians in the lifelong fight for actions done with love, global unity, and equality. Having been born on Jan 18-68., Dr. LaLonde’s honorable mentions are M.L.K., as a globally recognized civil rights activist, and Muhammad Ali one of the greatest of all time for his sacrifice and his stand against fighting in the war. And his humble leadership to take the love word path in life outside of the ring in his later years.

Special thanks to a friend, a movie director I like to call Danno the Manno McCormack for suggesting the title along with the editing tips that helped push me to fight, adapt and to make the necessary changes to make this project as successful as I dreamt it to be. And Tanya Simon for taking on the task of proof reading over 135,000 words of this novel.

Finally.., note to self, I acknowledge you! Lil Ray.., Peanuts, Gunner, Darren, Joseph, LaLonde, Dr.D..,

You Fucking did it!!!

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Ali - Macka Foley. 83 at Hagler vs. Hearns. Dunes Hotel, Las Vegas

By: Tom Ferrante

INTRODUCTION

A young boy discovers there is much more to the universe than he was taught to believe. And that beyond the illusions and egos of his mind when he is listening to the guidance of the innate wisdom within him that speaks and appears to him in visions in the form of a spirit animal when he needs it most. Guiding him along in life even when the real world seems to be fighting against him, Dylan begins feeling and experiencing his connection to the entire universe.

Leading him to tap into and unleash the infinite power within him as he begins experiencing miracles in his life! While navigating through his life as a human and as a being, his fight to self-discovery would begin at the lowest level of animal mind consciousness. From humble beginnings as a fighter and healer, Dylan is in the fight of his life through the 9 different levels of consciousness he must victoriously complete to become a Shaman.

Dylan knew his job was not to judge or to figure out if someone he came across in his life deserved love. His purpose was to lift the fallen, to restore the broken and heal the hurting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Darren R.J. LaLonde, D.C., DrD

D rD was born on January 18-68 in Smith Falls Ontario Canada with a population of less than 3 thousand people. In 1988, he was the first of 10 football players ever from Windsor Ontario, Canada, to earn a football scholarship to a division one school in the U.S.A. While managing his way through the foster care system, DrD, with fortitude and tenacity, earned a full football scholarship as a walk-on at Eastern Michigan University. He would later compete in professional boxing and a professional football tryouts in the same year as an incredible all around athlete. While testing the waters of professional sports, he was guided to pursue a Doctorate in Chiropractic and his hobby of playing music and writing.

In 2005, DrD graduated from Cleveland Chiropractic in Los Angeles, Ca., and won the Student Spirit of the year award for his passion for Chiropractic globally. While working on fighters and members at Freddy Roach’s Wildcard Boxing Gym at the time, while also serving the community as a Holistic Health Chiropractor in Hollywood Ca.

DrD, a Chiropractor by day and a musician by night, released his first music C.D., on October 1, 2011 holding a concert at Fortunes Gym entitled, Fly To The Moon. Musically DrD, goes by the name Lil Ray LaLonde, and when you take the journey and read the book you will know why. In 2012, his first book was a little brother’s journey to The Hero Within, a holistic health care guide to raise awareness for the prevention of child abuse was released and remains available on Amazon.

Since then, DrD has continued to serve the community and gym members by day in Hollywood, Ca. By night Dr.D has been working on new music for 2022 and the release of the epic tale on the journey of self discovery in the future award winning story and movie of Fighter Healer Shaman. While the size of Dr.D’s dreams currently exceed his capacity to achieve them, these words are being written he is dreaming in detail.

Though this book is fictional, many of these events and characters were real and the events really did occur. I am sure everyone reading this could argue they have seen or experienced a miracle or two in their lifetimes. Or perhaps you have heard a voice in your head and were guided out of trouble when you listened to it? Through experience, Dr.D believes that when the day finally comes when we see ourselves in a rose there is no looking back. Upon the realization that the beauty we see in a rose is a reflection of the beauty we see in ourselves.

With this awareness we begin to see the beauty and the love everywhere in life as we recognize our connection to the universe. And that there is much more to life beyond the animal mind, and that while building the bridge to heaven from earth knowing that in highest state of consciousness of the Shamanic experience, Dylan learns heaven is here on earth.

Feel Like A Champion!

Is not just a slogan..,

DrD theSPORTSdoc That Rocks!

Dr. Darren, R.J. LaLonde D.C.

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Dr. Darren R.J. LaLonde., D.C.

@drd_theSportsDoc

I

FIRST LOVE

F uck, here we go again. Lil Ray thought to himself as the day went on. He began to notice the bully of the school had been giving him the evil eye all day. The rumor was out as kids passed notes around in class that he, the new kid was in for a beating after school. Lil Ray was a cute kid with a unique awareness to his connection to all life that he knew people just didn’t understand. Wherever he went Ray had the ability to see beyond fear and anger and somehow navigate through seemingly helpless situations life presented him. Surviving seemingly impossible situations and, he found the good from the experience to learn from, grow, and thrive from it.

Lil Ray took a quick glance at the clock. His heart was racing. It was almost three o’clock, the end of the school day. Lil Ray was in grade six and for him it was just another day as the new kid in a new school. He had already been to nine different grade schools and only ten years old. Ray’s childhood was filled with the secret world of the survival of child abuse and him and his mother’s battles with homelessness. He had a unique energy he could feel within he couldn’t explain guiding him to face the challenges of the day. Lil Ray was the richest, poor kid the world had ever seen. He had an unbreakable spirit and the will to share the passion bursting inside of him to live life on the love word path. From the shit show start in life. Lil Ray was born into, so far the only real teacher he ever had was his inner guide. And he wasn’t even sure what the fuck that meant?

Daily life would test him. He was determined to learn how to listen to his senses that appeared to be always attempting to guide him out of trouble to face the challenges of the day no matter what life threw at him. Today at his new school would be no exception. As he was daydreaming looking out the school window watching a white rabbit approaching a small group of children playing in the school yard during gym class, Lil Ray noticed they were too busy looking at their phones to see it. The little bunny ran around a massive Oak tree at the edge of the school yard field and all Lil Ray could think about was that he wanted to climb the beautiful tree. He was aware of his connection with nature and the energy around him. While Lil Ray’s class was memorizing facts about a tree in biology to pass a school test, he had only one question for his teachers and all the kids. Had they ever planted, hugged, climbed or talked to a tree? Or thanked them for the miracle of life and their vital role in suppling the air we breathe?

Named after his father for as long as he could remember every time Lil Ray walked past a tree he would rest his hand on it for a brief moment. Consciously feeling the energy and the connection between the tree and himself. It helped Lil Ray fine tune his senses. After all nature is the best teacher. To him life was a magical gift and a miracle. The size of Lil Ray’s dreams always exceeded his current capacity to achieve them and he hoped that one day the world would be ruled by love again. To make things worse Lil Ray was the smallest kid in the class and had an overbite. His body had had yet to catch up to everyone else’s so the kids at school teased him.

They called him the buck tooth beaver and other names in attempt to bully him. Lil Ray could see the bullies deep down were angry and afraid on the inside, yet his instincts reminded him to forgive them. Forgiveness wasn’t always easy but Lil Ray felt sorry for them. He couldn’t explain how they occurred but he experienced occasional visions of people in his life he came across, like a daydream that brought him clarity, guidance and inner peace in difficult situations along with the healing power of empathy.

Lil Ray knew he was worthy in life even if the world around him teased and ridiculed him. He was in tune with his senses and knew he was equal to all better than no one. And this was a powerful awareness. Lil Ray was like everyone else: he was a human and a being. He strived to tap into the power of a clear connection to his being, yet still had much to learn about how to develop this gift. Lil Ray looked to nature and everyone he met as teachers knowing that lessons come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. Lil Ray didn’t want to miss out on the infinite level of consciousness as a being, beyond the limits of his mind and the physical world. While Lil Ray was discovering and experiencing the power of his senses he was inspired to awaken, learn, and heal himself to discover the miracles of life that exist beyond the limited consciousness of fear and anger.

He knew bullies, actions are always deeply rooted in a call for love and attention from the feeling of low self esteem and lack of self worth in their lives. Like Lil Ray, many of the kids in school were also from abusive households. They, too, were on the never-ending search for happiness, acceptance, and love from their mother and father. He could see a dim aura around the bullies he had faced. Ray had fought many battles with fear and anger that would block his direct contact with the love and guidance rooted in his being.

Lil Ray would sometimes see visions when he looked at an animal or a human that would reflect the cause of their pain or suffering. In contrast, he would also have them during moments when he witnessed lifeforms that were merged in acts of love or joy. Lil Ray could see a glow around them reflecting the energy, the state of being, and the level of connectedness to the life they were experiencing in that moment! Some people’s auras were brighter than others and some barely visible. But Lil Ray knew that there is a child within us all and that we are all meant to shine!

Lil Ray had beautiful green eyes with a spirit that would never quit, and always had endless energy. He may have been born into poverty and the smallest kid in class but the gift of his heightened senses were like a superpower. The power of alchemy was rooted in his being and Lil Ray had the ability to turn fear into actions done with love. By observation, Lil Ray appeared to be a loner wherever he went, yet he never felt alone. Truth is, he was always observing and felt connected to the energy around him. He had never been in one place long enough to establish long lasting friendships. Lil Ray knew life is a blink of an eye between eternities and some of the biggest angels in his life passed through his life as fast as a shooting star. He was always observing, listening, and growing when he was in tune with his senses. The trouble in his life always came when he wasn’t listening to his senses. Ray was beginning to get the message that his inner guide was always present.

There was no hiding from the kids in his class the fact that he was a poor kid. Ray was truly grateful for what little he had knowing the universe had always provided for him. His mother bought his clothes from the Goodwill knowing one man’s junk is another mans treasure. Though the world would define him as poor, Ray never felt he lacked anything other than the presence and the love from family all life desires and thrives on.

Ray knew money was man made and what he was striving for was leading him on a path to experience life on a much deeper level than the limitations of the material world. As unpredictable as his childhood had been so far the best way he could describe his life was that his instincts were like an imaginary friend that was always there guiding him. Ray knew at an early age that material things would never replace the most valuable things in life that money can’t buy. He knew since all life thrived on love, the greatest things in life were simply actions done with love. He had spent much of his life so far dying to live and starving for love from the outside world. And just like many of the other kids Lil Ray was fighting to love himself too.

He knew if he was going to tap into this limitless energy he felt within he would have to fight every day to maintain his connection to the source and learn how to use its power! He had made mistakes along his short path in life every time he mistook his ego for his inner guide. Ray would remind himself that he was a being stuck in the physical body, having a human experience. Somehow this awareness allowed him to forgive himself and others a little easier at times.

At each new school Lil Ray chose when he really wanted or needed to get a detention. By causing just enough of a disturbance in class to warrant the punishment even after a few warning by the teachers. The bullies could never wait after school for an hour. Most kids in these tough neighborhoods had strict parents, too. Bullies like crowds and travel in packs, feeding on and inciting fear because they too feel afraid inside. Dylan knew their actions were actually a call for love and knowing that gave him a mental edge.

Lil Ray knew the real sign of power in humanity are actions done with love. Love is power. Even in nature, a lion is king of the jungle and does not kill or disturb everything in its path. Lions only take what they need and protect what they love, living in alignment with the natural laws of the jungle. School was simple for Ray, yet his attention was often elsewhere in the real world of survival that began at the end of each day when the school bell rang. He got A’s in any class he was interested in and did just enough to get the grade he needed to pass in the classes he wasn’t.

He wished there were more classes that nurtured the individual gifts of each kid. It was clear to Lil Ray which kids were good at art, science, sports, or music. For the kids that had great interest and wanted to build houses or work on cars the sky was the limit in each class to what they could learn and discover. He wondered to himself why not guide and teach kids in the direction of their clear natural interests and talents? School seemed to be teaching conformity, half truths, and very little about the realities of life Ray and his mother were living in. On one level of consciousness, Ray was always doing his best to nurture the environment with his energy. On another level he was a kid just trying to fit in and survive, improvise, adapt, and overcome to the unexpected challenges life revealed daily in his fucked up childhood.

Lil Ray was a natural athlete and his artistic talents appeared also to be second nature. Ray believed he could do anything he wanted to do knowing on some level it is all just energy, intention, and practice. He would simply begin by taking action to trust his instincts and enjoy the journey when he played sports, created art, or made music. Lil Ray knew the power of intention was a universal law reminding him that it didn’t matter what he did with his life or what he became; all that mattered is that whatever he chose to do he did with love.

Deep down Lil Ray was much more interested in this unexplainable energy flowing through him and how to find a way to share his creations with the entire world. Through the art of living in the moment and the healing power of love Ray could control the direction of energy through his actions and intentions. In this state of consciousness the energy and the clarity of his vision was like a superpower for Lil Ray which resulted in his ability to experience moments of true holistic health and inner peace in the world of chaos he was presently living in.

Lil Ray was discovering he could do almost anything with his hands far beyond playing sports and creating art. He could almost control the heat and the energy coming from his hands if he concentrated. When he was alone he would practice moving small objects by focusing on the energy coming through his hands. Lil Ray could also see the size of the glow or the aura around people, plants, and animals he came in contact with. He never told anyone of the discovery of his unique abilities. For now he had to focus on how he was going to survive the bullies after school. Not one kid in his new school knew that tonight after school, after his meeting with the school bully, that Ray would be sleeping in the back seat of his mother’s brown Ford Granada with everything they owned in the car, parked on a residential street near whatever school his mother could get him into while by day she looked for work.

Even at Lil Ray’s awkward physical stage, to the girls in the class he was cute. His energy and zest for life was palpable. He was like a puppy with no fear to be anything but kind and affect all equally with unconditional love. Yet Ray always felt a silent connection to everyone and he quickly gained popularity with the older boys earning their respect playing sports. He often felt alone and invisible in a room full of people, sitting in class between the popular kids and the kids that didn’t seem to fit in. Yet he didn’t fit into any one group either, and he knew it. Trailblazers rarely do. Lil Ray believed and trusted that his instincts would lead him in life to where his dreams met his reality.

Since the age of five it was just Lil Ray and his mother traveling from town to town, often moving out in the middle of the night before the rent was due the next day. With all their belongings she could fit in the car, she searched for new jobs, cheap apartments, or couch surfing, always seeking opportunity and fighting to live a life beyond survival. His mother Lucy had left his father when Ray was five. Drugs and alcohol consumed them living their lives fueled by fear and anger. On one level they loved each other but on another they didn’t love themselves enough to make it stick. Not as bad as the great depression, but times were tough and with no financial support from his father Ray Sr. Luckily his mother had an iron will to survive and never feared hard work. She had worked on the farm her entire life as a little girl from sunrise to sundown when she wasn’t in school. No one works harder than a person picking tomatoes in a farmer’s field all day but the effort hardly leads to financial security, liberty and freedom in life.

His mother Lucy had movie star good looks. If she got a chance to sell you a product she believed in you didn’t have a chance. She could sell Christmas trees in July. Ray’s mother was only nineteen when he was born and Ray was her only child. He knew deep down that Lil Ray was the name he was given at birth that had once been celebrated having been named after his father. He had now become a reminder to his mother of the man, the husband she had chosen, that broke her heart and left them both behind. Ray’s mother decidedly changed his name to Dylan shortly after his father and her husband had abandoned them. Hoping that the new name Dylan would represent new hope and, at-least in her mind, the promise of a better future for her and her son.

As for Dylan’s name change, when he was older he secretly reserved the name Lil Ray as an alter ego to the artist within him when he sang, painted with his passion and his love through art. Dylan would never leave or abandon Lil Ray like the rest of the world had done. The name would always represent the eternal childlike consciousness he was born with, like an essential best friend that was always with him Dylan could trust. He was gaining trust in himself to listen to his inner guide, to become the best version of himself he could possibly be.

Dylan’s mother was a fighter and he could see she was fighting to see the good in life having survived hell on earth in her childhood. Lucy battled every day with the deep rooted anger she had hid from the world that consumed her entire life. As a result she had a mean streak behind such beauty no one experienced or could see except him. Dylan and his mother Lucy would travel town to town while she looked for jobs waitressing, selling real estate, Mary Kay makeup, or vacuum cleaner’s. They lived in the car and would couch surf to survive. His mother fought for her independence like a prize fighter and she was as tough as they come. With all the confusion of his new name and all the rest of the chaos, Dylan did everything in his power not to be a burden to his mother. He never once in his lifetime called his mother by her given name and yet wanted nothing more in life than to feel his mother’s love. Tonight after school when he went to bed, Dylan would be sleeping in the backseat of his mother’s car at the Detroit River.

It’s almost 3p.m., he thought to himself as he snapped back from his daydream while staring out the class room window. Dylan had earlier risked gaining even more of the attention of the school bullies writing and returning a few secret love letters to the prettiest girl in his new school Marybeth during the school day. Dylan passed the love notes to the girls back and forth in the seats next to him in class to give to Marybeth. Hoping that they were her supporters and the signals he hoped and he trusted she had been sending him. If one of the notes ended up in the wrong hands, who knows what kind of trouble he would be getting into?

Like a true fighter in life and in sport, Dylan knew he would have to take full responsibility for his actions. To live his life on the love word path he would have to embrace the periods of solitude while navigating his journey through life. To truly shine, a part of him knew he could not shine his brightest nor rest in peace until he knew the whole world lived in peace, while still discovering how to master peace within himself. Dylan knew his actions were either feeding fear or feeding love and at the end of each day all that mattered is, how he had faced the challenges of the day? What could he do to get stronger mentally, physically or emotionally while fighting to find some real meaning in life beyond the simple act of surviving? That all actions are done with love or a call for love, Dylan’s instincts would continuously remind him as he spoke his mantra each time he faced conflict.

Each day Dylan realized his greatest task was to take action to forgive himself for not feeling perfect in the image of his mother, and the feelings that came along with the lack of love from his father, and feeling inadequate. Dylan began to realize the good he could see in others was the good within him too! The love he was seeking from the outside world he began to discover was within him. In a way, every moment in life would challenge Dylan to recognize he was equal to all, yet better than none. He began to understand that accepting anything less is like not accepting the miracle of the gift of life!

Dylan was learning to take the path his instincts told him to, even if it was a risky unknown path as long it was love that fueled the decision he followed it. For the moment, other than the bully it was rumored he would have to face after school, this ten year old had nothing else on his mind but Marybeth the prettiest girl in his class. Dylan could feel the warmth of her unconditional love. He hoped Marybeth would never learn of the world he lived in outside of school and the physical and mental abuse he was dealing with at home that he was hiding.

Marybeth obviously saw past the holes in his shoes and jeans and was attracted to the passion for life Dylan showed every day at school. She noticed he was kind to all the kids and he lifted the weak and challenged the strong. Never backing down during the games, Marybeth and her girlfriends watched him play with the older boys during recess and lunch.

Marybeth was the most popular girl in school that many of the toughest boys dreamed of having as a girlfriend. She had caught his eye a few times and would hold his gaze until his face turning a light shade of red and not wanting to get caught quickly looked away. Dylan’s heart was pounding, Marybeth was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and had taken a liking to him. She was feisty, confident, and a true leader as he noticed she too, treated the less attractive or less popular girls in the school equally. Dylan had to hold back the tears when he saw Marybeth thinking no one noticed her give her sweater to a girl that came to school on a cold day with no jacket when she arrived to class. It didn’t take much to realize the girl was poor she wore the same clean two outfits day after day. Yet she remained one of the best students in class with the highest grades and was always quick to share a shy smile when the teacher would praise her.

Her name was Dodi and Dylan noticed she had a large aura around her. Dylan had a unspoken, protective eye over her during school and he was glad to see Marybeth did too. Dylan understood first-hand the struggle of finding clothes that he could wear to simply fit in. His mother washed their clothes by hand if she could and almost everything he owned was second-hand. Dylan was the last person that would judge anyone over materialism or possessions. He knew love is everywhere when he had the eyes to see it, but you can’t buy it or wear it and he knew without a doubt that all life thrives on it.

Dylan was still learning to trust his passion and belief that he was worthy. Taking the love word path wasn’t always easy especially since the world often seemed to contradict his instincts. Just like in the art of boxing, Dylan knew the moment in his life he began to focus on what his opponent was thinking or doing in the external world. Instead of facing his fears and the challenge in front of him, he lost his inward connection to the love, strength, will, passion, hope, inspiration, and guidance born within him and somehow suffered: Physically, mentally, emotionally, or any combination of the three. This awareness was another key to change, another universal law Dylan knew required action and courage.

Dylan had a vision of his heart beat and breathing in rhythm and harmony, with the rise and fall of the ocean while feeling his connection to the energy between the sun and trees. He was still too young to fully understand the full meaning of the lessons from this visions but the universe continued to guide him. To remind him over and over again the love he was searching for would never be found in the outside world. He was made of it! All at once Dylan was tuned into an energy he couldn’t explain. It filled his body. It was almost as if his vibrations were at a frequency that made him invisible like the rays from the infinite energy of the sun that no one can see, that shared it’s light and supplied everyone around him and all life and light equally. And for few brief seconds anyone without knowing why could unconsciously feel the energy of unconditional love when his mind was silent and he was living in the moment.

Dylan was daydreaming looking at Marybeth when he heard his name. Dylan, what do you think the author is trying to say? The English teacher asked him as he snapped out of his daydream, vision. Dylan hadn’t heard the question but he spontaneously replied, We are all meant to shine. Not just some of us. All of us. Most of our frustration and anger is due to the fact we are not trusting our instincts and our life changes the instant we begin to trust them and exponentially when we act on them. And he that looks at the clock becomes one of the hands. All the kids in the class laughed and Ms. Iler replied, Dylan that is a tremendous insight and an excellent point about the hands of time. The class stopped laughing. When Marybeth smiled at him and his eyes watered up a little bit. Their connection was palpable though none of the kids could see it. But they could all feel it. The power of love always affects the energy in any room.

Dylan, with his love conquers all mentality, had taken the risk of returning Marybeth’s love note in class she had given to a few of her girlfriends to pass to him. He opened it and read, Dylan, would you like to meet me behind the school after class? With a heart signed, Marybeth. Her handwriting was beautiful as his heart pounded. Dylan could hardly believe it as he blushed and quickly grabbed his pen to respond. Hi Marybeth, I love your blond hair and your gorgeous smile. Roses are red, violets are blue, you are so pretty and I would love to meet you after school, lol. Signed, Dylan with a smiley face and a heart.

Figuring out how he was going to deal with the bullies and meet with Marybeth behind the school at the same time was going to be tricky. Now was the time to trust his instincts like it was a superpower. Life always had a way to test his faith and