Above The Line Article:
"The Common Denominator"
By Erik Carlson
It’s true. I have done assemblies in schools with
the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state of Oregon;
the highest teen suicide rate in the entire country (this
was a small Eskimo village in Alaska). So when I found myself
in front of your typical, small town middle schools in Lewiston,
Idaho and Clarkston, Washington, and I was asked to speak
on abstinence (yes, there are still grant monies out there
for this topic, as well as other ‘prevention’
programs), I lead with this question: What is the common
denominator between these schools in Alaska and Oregon,
as well as your school, that result in these statistics?
I didn’t reveal the answer right away. What I did
was a magic effect where I had a student get up in front
of the student body, sit in a chair. Then I proceeded to
make small paper balls disappear much to the amazement of
the student in the chair.
Well, the comedy and laughter that fell across the kids
in the bleachers was due to the method I used to make the
paper balls disappear. I was simply tossing them over the
kid in the chair’s head. This is very entertaining,
especially when seeing the ‘jaw-dropping’ expression
on the kids’ face and he is the only one not ‘in’
on the secret.
Well, after I reveal the secret to the kid in the chair
(and thank him and reward him for being a good sport), I
talk about how I was able to ‘pull one over on him.’
What I did was use a word that all magicians use when trying
to fool their audience and that word is MISDIRECTION. Misdirection
is simply an attempt to get someone to FOCUS on a diversion
from the truth (think of the many ways society tries to
misdirect youth).
The common denominator between the kids in Alaska, Oregon,
and any school across the country, is that the only way
these kids become part of these heartbreaking statistics,
is that they give in to misdirection. I just proved
it. I showed them how I fool them, then I give them a solution
to NOT getting tricked. That is where I go into my F.U.N.
message (I go into this in my newsletter archives and I’ll
go into this in future newsletters), but to put it simply,
when you know the TRUTH, the TRUTH will set you free.
The reason I am back doing youth assemblies, rallies and
camps, is that I am passionate about sharing the TRUTH with
these kids and equipping them to live a life of abundance;
focusing on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and
admirable. When they can get into that focus, the misdirection’s
that life throws at them will bounce off them, not having
a chance of penetrating their armor.
Focus this month on the truth, and the truth will free
you up from any stresses that the world tempts you to focus
on. Anything that steals your joy is a misdirection and
the solution is found in love, forgiveness, and the beautiful
things life offers you.
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