“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

He became so aware of fear’s destructive energies that he panicked, thinking there was no way to keep fear away. It was quite beneficial that he spoke to you about the brief depression, for this helped relieve it, and your reassurances helped rouse his confidence.

He was frightened at the amount of negative thought that he encountered in himself, and recognized. Now you are not actively to seek out negative thoughts, but to find positive ones. Otherwise you concentrate upon the feared result rather than the desired one.

Fear of any kind, including fear of fear, is destructive. A negative thought gains in power to the extent that you fear it, and you had better underline that whole sentence. A better attitude is “Well, there is a negative thought, let’s get rid of it.” Now, mentally, have Ruburt pretend it is simply a weed, and mentally throw it over his shoulder after he has plucked it from the seed of his consciousness.

Now we will throw in something better. Even the word “peace” will do. He need not go about at the time searching for an antidote, you see. “Those aren’t the kind of thoughts I want,” that mental statement is a help. If the negative mood persists a while he should not think “Oh now this will be reflected in symptoms, what can I do?” This adds more negative connotations.

He should instead think “Well, this will pass, and I let it pass.” Minimize its importance, if necessary, rather than overstate a projected negative reaction to an already negative mood.

Now tell him he has learned, for in the past he would have allowed this to continue, and he did not. You help him pluck out the mood. The whole idea is not fear of the symptoms that you have. He must not build them up by comparing them with the state of health that he desires. This builds up the wrong end of the equation.

One of the gravest errors he makes is in thinking “How far from health I am,” when he compares what he wants to present physical conditions. Then self-pity enters in.

I will give you a prime example, and it is one of the reasons why difficulties are sometimes encountered on weekends, often the situation when the two of you plan to go downtown in the morning. The night before he worries, and often consciously, that he will not be in good condition, and imaginatively then as a result, sees himself in poor condition. Because of the force of the imagination this does sometimes then occur. Then he compares your health and vitality to his condition, and imagines you are impatient with him, since he quite literally drags his feet.

He drags his feet because he does not want to go, because he is afraid that he will be in the poor condition that his imagination has gotten him into. The more urgently you want to make the trip, you see, the better he wants to feel, to make it with you. His mistake has been in letting his imagination work against him, thwarting his desire, rather than for him.

His mental attitude should be “Of course I can feel fine in the morning,” and instead of imagining himself dragging down the stairs, he should playfully imagine himself ahead of you, as if he were playing a game. The pity of the world’s present situation is that the methods people use often to achieve their desires, are those specific methods that will bring them the opposite.

Now I have mentioned this because neither of you realized it. Ruburt was furious in the store, and felt abandoned. He was furious at himself however, not you, that he could not follow you quickly enough. He was angry at the salesgirl, whom he likes, for her remark about his weight, and he was sore at himself for being sore in body.

Now I have given you suggestions that will work to clear up the difficulties I have named. In the overall with your methods, he is doing well. The specifics showed their results, and as more specifics arise, if they do, I will mention them.

On occasion only, there is some difficulty with the grocery store, and he suspects this. He berates himself for not being able to help you more in the carrying of the bags, and in any ordinary chores with which he would normally assist you. This includes the carrying of the wash. You forget how conscientious he is toward you.

Your assistance here will be of help. Remarks such as “Soon I’ll let you carry all the bags,” or “Soon you can carry them all,” will help. It is also good to remind him that he carried the bags for you when you were ill, and that you regained your strength, and that he is regaining his strength.

The problem is obviously distressing, but help is not to be found by discussing its distressing aspects. It does not serve as an impetus any longer, now that the problem has been faced. Now concentration should be upon the desired solution. He must not grit his teeth and think “I will get better.” Both of you should look for, and mention, any new freedoms. A feeling of expectancy on both of your parts will be of great benefit, and must in fact be a part of your prayer activities.

Now generally he has made strides, particularly in the morning. He should not spend any day entirely inside, as you know. He should imaginatively see himself using his body properly, for these thoughts alone activate it. But the whole idea should be “I am free, to clean the cupboards, to get down on my knees, to get up.” Feelings of mobility are highly important.

Give me a moment. (Pause.) One point, not having to do with the sale: he feels that you and Ruburt have no time for him, since he moved away. Telepathically he picked up your envy, and it hurts him because he is afraid of his own driving concern for money and security. This is why he plies you with food and drink when you do see him there. (At his dine-and-dance club.)

He is always afraid because he feels lost in disorganization. He feels guilty for his daughter’s difficulty. He sold the house on the one hand to make money, and on the other hand he sold it to do penance because in his own way he loved it. He talked of selling the land and tearing down the terrace as a projected act of self-mutilation, mutilating something that he loved, to do penance for his sins, in his light.

He felt driven to do so. He is filled with a great love that he can never fully express, and is gifted with an intuition that he cannot follow but cannot close out. His intuitional abilities are considerable. It was not because he did not care for the house, but because he did care that he sold it.