Chapter 7. “I Want Answers!”
Scott, reclining in the gravity-defying chair, was very relaxed in the Viroid extraction room with Relato and the Mind/Bodybuilders. He pushed a button and the chair moved to the upright position. All of a sudden, he felt completely overwhelmed by all that had happened to him and lamented, “I have so many questions that I want answers to!”
Relato smiled patiently. “The answers you want are inside of you. By making good choices you design your own destiny. I’m not saying this is easy. The right choices are often the hardest to make. But if you can make them, you will have control over your life, and you’ll realize what responsibility is all about. You will no longer blame your brother, your teachers, your friends, or your mother. You have been angry with your mother because she has had to make the choices you have been too weak and frightened to make. Viroids zapped you with fear, greed, and anger, remember? Love and kindness make us feel happy and good-natured, and people want to be around us. Fear, anger, and greed make us unhappy and hateful, and isolate us.”
Scott still looked bewildered, so Relato explained it in another way. “You see, Scott, you allowed Angroid into your energy field. What we throw at others bounces back at us! Which will it be, Scott, rage or joy?”
Scott wasn’t convinced. “I just want to have fun,” he whined, “and I want those Viroids to leave me alone.”
“Fun is what most people want.” Relato grinned. “Let me ask you something. Can angry people enjoy anything? Can they enjoy eating, or playing? Do they share? Are they fun to be with? Isn’t no the answer to all of these questions? Think about it, Scott, when we are overcome by anger, we are out of control. Anger and resentment lower our defense systems and leave us wide open to Viroid attacks. We burst out with words we wish we had never said and we do things that we later regret.”
“I guess you’re right about that,” Scott said begrudgingly. “Sometimes when I get mad at Joey, I lose it – I hit him and say horrible things that I don’t mean. Then I feel worse.”
Relato nodded in agreement saying, “That’s when you need your shield.” He extended his hand and motioned for Scott to follow him.