Bedtime Story - The Angry Flower

Welcome to a bedtime story,

The Angry Flower.

We'll get to this story in a minute,

But first,

Let's get comfy.

Lay down in your bed,

On your back,

If that makes you feel comfortable right now.

Relax.

Think about making your body soft like jello.

If you need to,

Wiggle around a little bit so you're cozy.

Snuggle up to your soft blanket or a cuddly stuffed toy if you have one.

Gently close your eyes.

You are safe here.

Now,

Notice your breathing.

Slowly breathing in and out.

Calmly,

Let's do three deep breaths together.

Slow,

Deep breath in.

Slow,

Long,

Deep breath out.

Again,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

Slow,

Long,

Deep breath out.

One last time.

Slow,

Deep breath in.

Long breath out.

Well done.

Now,

Just breathe naturally.

Continue noticing your breath.

With every breath out,

You are more and more relaxed,

More and more ready for sleep.

You may notice your body feeling heavier,

Your head feeling heavier as it sinks into the pillow.

Your back softly sinking into the bed below you.

Your arms and legs also feeling heavier.

And you are now feeling calm,

Cozy,

Relaxed,

And sleepy.

Eyes closed.

You are safe here as we begin our story,

The Angry Flower.

It all happened to the young new flower one beautiful summer day.

But young Lotus wasn't in a good mood this day.

Young Lotus didn't know why,

But something just didn't feel right.

He was feeling a little impatient at times.

He didn't tell his parent flower about the way he was feeling either.

Things suddenly got worse when a honeybee came buzzing near him.

Lotus didn't like the bee's buzzing sound.

To young Lotus,

The bee seemed like a big monster with mean eyes and fast moving wings.

He thought it was coming to attack him.

And when the bee landed on Lotus,

It reached into the center of the flower and gathered some of the sweet liquid nectar.

That surprise made Lotus very angry.

He felt the bee was stealing and buzzing irritably as it collected the nectar from Lotus.

The soft white and pink petals that usually made Lotus beautiful now darkened into a deeper red as Lotus focused on his anger.

Lotus tried to rapidly flip its petals around to swat the bee,

But it got away swiftly,

Safely,

And unhurt.

Parent Lotus was watching as this happened as the bee came by to gather some sweet nectar and how young Lotus was suddenly upset,

Very red,

Very angry.

Now,

Now,

Lotus,

Why are you angry?

Because the bee stole my nectar.

I don't want that to happen.

The nectar is mine.

I'm never going to let a bee get close to me,

Never again.

Young Lotus was furious,

But Parent Lotus knew about anger,

And a parent knows understanding anger will help.

Parent Lotus reached out to young Lotus and gave a nice,

Squeezy hug.

That made young Lotus feel better already.

Parent Lotus asked,

Young Lotus,

Please tell me how it makes you feel inside when you're angry.

Young Lotus thought about this wise question for a moment.

He had not considered what was happening inside his body as the anger boiled up a few moments ago.

He paused a minute to think about his experience.

Young Lotus slowly gathered his thoughts and memories that led him to suddenly be angry.

And after thinking about this,

And as he spoke,

He began to feel calmer,

Too.

I think my heart just started beating really fast,

And my breathing was shorter and choppy,

Too.

My flower head even felt hot.

I think my anger just took over all of my other feelings.

I wanted to stomp my feet or something,

To jump right out of my roots,

And maybe even hurt the bees.

I was really upset because the bee was stealing from me.

That nectar is mine.

Parent Lotus was thankful that young Lotus took the time to think about his feelings.

That is the first big step to learning how to control anger.

It's the first step toward better understanding.

You did well to explain how you feel.

It is okay to feel anger.

Everyone does sometimes,

Even adults.

But it would not be okay to allow anger to take control,

And in anger,

Hurt someone.

I know,

But I felt like I had to protect myself.

The bee was taking something from me.

Parent Lotus felt now was the time to help young Lotus understand what was really happening at the time.

Young Lotus,

Did you know that we would not exist without bees?

What?

No,

Really?

Bees visit flowers to gather nectar.

That sweet liquid is what they bring back to the bee's nest to make honey.

The honey is used to feed all the bees,

Including the baby bees.

And humans like to collect honey too.

Humans like bees for that,

But they also like bees because they are so important to all plants,

Including the Lotus family.

Really?

I didn't know they make honey.

But Lotus flowers don't need honey.

So how can bees be good for us too?

Well,

When bees come by to gather nectar from flowers,

They also are touching our petals and other parts in the middle of our flowers.

Did you notice any yellow powder on the legs of that bee?

Yes,

I did.

Their beating wings seemed to stir up the yellow powder,

And some of it stayed on the bee's legs.

That dust on the bee's legs is like magic.

It's called pollen,

The secret of life for all plants.

When they go from flower to flower,

Some of the pollen dust also drops off on the flower,

And that helps the flower make seeds,

Seeds that will eventually grow into more little flowers,

Just like you.

Wow,

You mean I wouldn't even be here today without the help of a bee?

Exactly.

Without bees,

We would never have seeds that grow.

Bees are so important to almost all plant life in the world.

Bees are always busy working hard to keep the world full of beautiful plants,

And of course,

Yummy honey for humans.

Young Lotus was amazed at this new knowledge.

He just learned more about bees,

And now this instantly changed the way he thought of bees.

Understanding more about something will do that.

Now he no longer would think of the bee as annoying,

Or even think of the bee's actions as stealing,

As he thought earlier.

Now young Lotus realized the bee was a friend coming to get nectar as a reward for sharing pollen.

The bee was doing important work for everyone.

Young Lotus thought about the first time he saw the bee when he thought the eyes looked fierce and threatening,

And he felt fear and then anger.

Now he understands the bee's eyes are just big,

So they can see where the nectar is in a flower,

And their buzzing wings help them fly exactly where they need to be to do an important job for all of nature.

Bees are actually my friends,

And they're so beautiful,

With those black and yellow stripes and cute little legs full of pollen.

I can't wait to share my nectar next time.

And just then,

As young Lotus was feeling so much better than when he felt angry earlier,

Another bee came by.

Lotus was not angry this time.

He let his beautiful white and pink petals shine brightly to welcome the bee.

The bee smiled back and wiggled sideways,

Left and right a couple of times,

As if to say hello and thank you to young Lotus.

How a little more understanding made all the difference.

Young Lotus thought,

Next time I feel anger coming up inside me,

I'm just going to stop for a moment,

Take a deep breath,

And take a few seconds to truly understand what is happening.

It is probably not something threatening,

And I just need to understand more.

I am so grateful that I had this talk with parent Lotus.

Young Lotus was feeling great about his day.

He had learned so much.

And that afternoon,

Three more bees actually came by to happily do their busy work for nature.

Now the sun was setting,

So he knew it was time to close up the petals for the night as flowers do when they get ready for sleep.

Maybe there will even be more bees tomorrow.

Young Lotus yawned,

Ready for a peaceful and restful sleep.

Like young Lotus,

We all have had a great day.

And so it is time to sleep,

To recharge our bodies for another terrific day,

Just like this one tomorrow.

So let's slip into sleepy time now.

Eyes are closed,

And you are breathing slowly and calmly.

As you rest,

Sinking softly into your bed and pillow,

Continue thinking about your breathing.

No need to do anything.

No need to think about anything else.

You are comfortable,

Cozy,

Ready,

Letting go of the day,

Slipping soundly into a deep,

Peaceful,

And very restful sleep.

It is time now for pleasant and sweet dreams.

Sleep well,

My friend.