-Evil’s Best Weapon

One summer day, the weather was so hot and humid the sensei actually told the apprentices to stop chopping wood and carrying water an hour early, in order for
everyone to spend some time in the nearby lake.

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On the way to the water, Akira asked John if anyone had told him the story ‘Evil’s Best Weapon.’

John said that no one had, and Akira smiled wide, “Then you are in for a treat!”

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As they walked, he began his story. “One day, an evil old witch was going out of business, and she had a yard sale to sell her potions and tools. You could buy all the traditional tools you think of when you think of evil: jealousy, anger, lust, pride, envy, deceit & adultery.

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Droves of people flocked to the sale and all her shiny tools were sold to the highest bidder.

Towards the end of the day, after all the tools had been well picked through, all that remained were a few trash heaps of old worn-out and broken tools.

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One man dug through the scraps and found a tool that was very well worn, and looked like it was on its last leg. He brought it to the woman to ask how much it cost.

The old witch was startled. ‘That tool is too valuable for me to sell, it is the only one I'm passing down!

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Give it back to me. It should not have been out here!’ Now the man was even more intrigued. ‘But it’s so worn, and yet you claim it is worth more than all these other shinier and newer tools. I must know what this tool is.’

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The witch refused to tell him, and instead she pried it from his hands and asked him
to leave. She took the old tool back and hid it in her house, and by the day’s end, every other tool had been sold except for that one.

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A few months later, the witch was on her deathbed. She called for her niece. Her niece was very angry she had sold all of her fancy tools.

“How could you sell all your tools and not pass them on to me?!’ she shouted.

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The old witch waited for her to calm down, and then told her to look under her bed.

The niece looked under the bed but all she saw was an old, worn-out tool.

She was surprised. ‘This?! This old thing is all you left me?!’

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The old witch looked at her and said, ‘Oh how naive you are, young child. This tool is discouragement, and it is more powerful than all the other tools combined. The best part is that most people never suspect that it comes from you.

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Discouragement will allow you to get to a person's heart when no other tools will, and once they become discouraged, they are putty in your hands.

You can squash the most
powerful dreams, level the greatest ideas, and ruin almost anything in the world without detection...

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all by using this tool to plant the seeds of discouragement.’

And with nothing but that single tool of discouragement, her niece went on to become one of the most powerful witches to ever live.

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John, one of the most powerful forces you will face during your time here is discouragement. It can come in many different forms; sometimes it is the voice inside your head that says you aren’t good enough, while other times...

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it might come from giving your best and still not succeeding. Other times it will creep in in ways you might not even be aware of.

So always keep your guard up & fuel your heart with encouragement.” John nodded, asking, “How do I fuel my heart?” Akira smiled “Good question.

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You fuel your heart with six things: what you watch, what you read, what you listen to, who you surround yourself with, how you talk to yourself, and what you visualize.

Let me ask you a question: if you owned a Lamborghini, would you ever put water into the gas tank?”

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John looked up in confusion. “Of course not! That would ruin the engine!”

“Exactly,” Akira said, “But this is what most people do with their hearts.

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You and I were created just like that Lamborghini, but if we put the wrong fuel into the gas tank of our hearts, we won’t run as we were intended to. We get frustrated and discouraged because we know deep down that we were created for so much more.

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