The Kingdom of Spyderdom

Monday: In what situations have you let your power slip away? How can you reclaim that power?

Like most kingdoms we are ruled by a king. King Spyder, our benevolent and loving king, has tasked me with sharing some of the history of our great kingdom. I was tasked because I, Spyder, am the interior minister of historical facts and artifacts. Interestingly enough a number of the inner ministers are named Spyder.

The kingdom of Spyderdom was founded in the summer of 1953. It was determined that King Spyder was too young to rule at that point, so the time of the Stewards came to pass. This period in the kingdom was known by all as Childhood. The first stewards, The Parents, were a wise and wonderful pair. They took the task of teaching and tutoring the young king with many of the things he would need to know when he took over ruling. The young king had almost no power. He would occasionally throw tantrums, pout, and express how unfair it was that the stewards were in power. There were occasional attacks on the kingdom by bullies and such but the Stewards kept control.

Eventually the time of The Parents stewardship came to an end. The second period of the Realm was also ruled by a Steward. This period came to be known as The Later Teen Years though it lasted about ten years. It was ruled by the Steward Ego. This was a relatively lawless period of the kingdom with constant struggles. The time was compared to the times of the Roman Emperor Caligula, though some in the kingdom find this to be a quite generous comparison. King Spyder tried at times to assert his power but Ego was too often the one making decisions.

Finally the time of the Stewards ended. The new period was the longest of all it was known as Career. There were early struggles in the rule of King Spyder. His power was challenged by financial issues, threatening to rob him of his independence. The Good King Spyder learned to spread wisdom to all in the kingdom and any who wished to learn. He learned compassion, love, understanding, empathy, forgiveness and many other wonderful things. The Good King however rarely used those things on himself fearing if he did there would not be enough left for the people in his kingdom.

He learned to give all his time and energy to help everyone but himself. The kingdom thrived. King Spyder moved eventually into his own castle. He shifted realms from a small rural one to a much larger one. He learned and grew. There were, during those times, threats to his power. The great Depression of the mid-eighties. The time and energy drain of the Master’s Degree. One of the greatest threats to the kingdom was the great health crisis of 2008. The great king found himself with no power and the threat to ending the kingdom was real. All of his subjects and all of the neighboring kingdoms rejoiced when King Spyder pulled through.

This crisis was a valuable lesson to King Spyder and although his plan all along was to end the period of Career, this let the king know it was the correct decision. A couple years after the health crisis the new and latest period of the kingdom came to be known as Retirement. Retirement has been the Golden Years of the Kingdom. King Spyder finally learned that if he used his skills of compassion and the rest on himself that he had even more of it left to share with his subjects. Finding time to exercise, relax, and focus on himself allowed him to have a surplus of these things for the people of his kingdom and visitors to his kingdom. All people visiting his kingdom and the members of his kingdom were all met with a smile, with compassion, they were offered the vast treasures of the kingdom if they were caring, respectful and kind.

You can see that King Spyder ruled his kingdom with vast wisdom, empathy, patience, and it was a place you would not be judged. You would be allowed to heal, learn, grow, and be inspired by him, his subjects, and visitors to the kingdom.

I was tasked to tell you about power. You can see that there have been very few threats for King Spyder’s power to be taken away externally. The greatest threat to King Spyder’s power has almost always been because of King Spyder himself. We have learned to call them the periods of the King’s madness. You see, the Kingdom thrives when King Spyder practices mindfulness. All of the King’s Counsel know he is the rightful ruler. Ego, Soul, Empathy, Love, and even Inner Critic all agree that King Spyder is the best to rule because he relies on all of us to make his decisions. He even put Inner Critic on the planning board to keep him busy.

There are times when the madness comes however. We first start to notice it when the King reacts instead of responding. When he decides to put Ego in charge when there is no threat to the realm. When his confidence is taken over by doubt. When fear or jealous are guiding his thoughts. When impatience get in the way of patience. These are the times that King Spyder can feel his power slipping away. He knows better. We all know that these bouts of madness are short. Growing shorter all the time with our newest and strongest ally ever the magical land of KTHT.

KTHT is ruled by a wondrous, wise, and generous Queen, Diana. Everyone there is encouraged to use their voice to heal, grow, and inspire others. Since King Spyder has been allied with the magical kingdom of KTHT he has grown even wiser and his bouts of madness and his loss of power have become shorter and shorter. For King Spyder has learned that once mindfulness has returned so has all the power he will ever need. In fact, the more that King Spyder learns from the allies. The more powerful he becomes.

Peace be with you