The Curse of the Itching Ears

by Jean V. Dickson

Once upon a time, many hundred years ago, lived a young and handsome nobleman. He spent much time in the Royal courts, where also the lady that he favoured dwelt. One night, he saw his lady gaze upon him as she nodded to the dance floor. His heart leapt with anticipation as he held her hand and the musicians strummed their melody.

“You are more beautiful than the day,” he declared. “The sun holds no radiance compared to you.” He looked into her eyes and continued his romance: “Your eyes are more lovely than the doe’s. And your teeth are all matched pearls.”

His lady squeezed his hand, her breathing coming faster than just the dancing would allow. “More, tell me more...” she whispered in his ear.

The young man forced his face to remain pleasant still as her foul breath caressed his face, mixing with the faint odour of the urine that she had washed her face with. Her yellow and black teeth edged the much lined, much painted mouth, the liver-spotted hand patted the blue veins drawn on the egg-white glazed forehead, and the now-ancient beauty delicately moved her head to hear more.

We all well know the story of Queen Elizabeth the First, and of her vanity. We’ve all heard of how she delighted in the praise of men, even when her beauty had faded. And we all know that in her later years, she only allowed men to praise her for what she had been, not what she was.

The old woman was cursed with itching ears. And the young man, like any person seeking power today, was eager to scratch them for her.

The same thing happens today, in all arenas of life, to both men and women. Many business strategists can tell you of businesses that failed because managers only told the CEO what he wanted to hear, not what he needed to hear. Ears are massaged with pleasurable words instead of being assaulted with the truth. And unfortunately, because the massaging is pleasurable, people don’t judge the words and the accuracy of the message.

Today, many of the “wise” men and women of our time publish a message that we create our own destiny (or reality) through the power of our thoughts. Most people believe that, basically, people are good at heart. I wonder if these individuals are teaching and believing the truth, or if “...wanting to have our ears tickled, we accumulate for ourselves teachers in accordance to our own desires; and turn away our ears from the truth...”

Anthony Robbins states, “I've continued to recognize the power individuals have to change virtually anything and everything in their lives in an instant. I've learned that the resources we need to turn our dreams into reality are within us, merely waiting for the day when we decide to wake up and claim our birthright.”

It sounds good to me. Who doesn’t want to change something? Who doesn’t want to be motivated to make something good happen for them? But what does it really mean?

All the resources we need are within us... That means that all the wisdom we need is within us. All the power we need is within us. All the compassion we need is within us.

Who doesn’t like being told they are all-wise, all-powerful and all-compassionate? But by believing this, are we tickling our ears?

What Robbins is really saying is that we can manipulate reality through positive thinking and drawing upon these all-powerful inner resources.

He’s not the only one saying this. If you really listen to most of our self-help gurus, educators and United Nations leaders, you would hear them preach the same message. Others, like Oprah, echo the message. The movie, The Secret, widely proclaims the same thing.

But is it really true?

If we really had the wisdom of the ages within us, then wouldn’t this goodness reveal itself more and more? If we really were good at heart, then we wouldn’t need laws to make this goodness come out. Why then is there always chaos when laws are lifted? As we know too well, people jump too eagerly into the vile, inhumane and greedy. World War II showed us that all too well.

Are we getting better? Recently, surveys of college students reveal that the number of young, male students who state that they would rape a woman if they knew they wouldn’t be caught is increasing, not decreasing.

When no one is looking, I, just like you, too often do what I know is wrong. How can I be all-powerful when I don’t even have the power to stop myself?

And if I can’t control my own impulses, how can I have the power to create my own reality and manipulate other people? No amount of positive thinking on my part is going to change another person’s actions. I’m still going to burn myself if someone sadist dumps boiling water on me, no matter how hard I try to change the reality and project positive thoughts. And that person didn’t pour the boiling water on me because I wanted them to - I didn’t create that horrific reality any more than the Jews did the Holocaust!

Would Robbins still hold to the same doctrine if he were poor and sickly? And would we listen to him then?

The Curse of the Itching Ears...

It seems that the Curse doesn’t only apply to elderly queens and too-powerful business men. We all are susceptible to its power, its seducing pleasure when instead we should be delighting in the rough and harsh wisdom of truth. No matter how pleasurable folly, true “wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her.”

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Jean V. Dickson is a Canadian-based entrepreneur who puts creativity's ZING into training and communications. For more information on creativity and innovation, visit www.jvdcreativity.com and www.experientialexercises.com. Put some ZING into your corporate communications at www.powerpointjoint.com. For church zing, see www.fatsheep.org and www.worshipzing.com.