First it gets dark, then the air slaps you from every direction and the ocean falls from the sky. Laws of gravity have been repealed. Your thoughts reach up like flowers for sunlight but the sun cannot be found.

I am darkness. I am the storm. And the witch rides her broomstick across my sky and is silhouetted against the moon. Swirling at your feet is the storm fear, icy poverty in iron handcuffs stirred by the witch’s broom.

I’ve been thinking a lot about storms of late; 2009 will be a stormy year.

And growing stronger by the hour is the devil witch that stirs her icy brew. Turn on your television and take a sip and feel your blood run cold.

But I bring you a different sort of news:

The opposite of life isn’t death. The opposite of life is fear.

A young rabbi once said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Do you want to learn to dance? Dancing is easy when you know your life’s purpose. Do you know yours? If not, Sid Lloyd can help you find it.

Wizard Academy exists to help people accomplish what they set out to do. We are the strangers you meet in the forest, the ones who give you what you need to continue your quest. We show you the pathway that leads to your prize.

That first step is always a big one. The student looks down at their feet, then over at us as they realize, “I’m really going to do this, aren’t I?”

And thus begins the only dance that will carry you happily through the rain.

James Thurber said, “All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.” Do you want to know the answers to Thurber’s questions?

Let me be the stranger in the forest who gives you what you need. Are you ready to receive it?

These 4 Common Fears are the

Ingredients in the Witch’s Brew:

1. Fear of Decision.

ANTIDOTE: Knowledge of Purpose

“Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman

Mark Twain said it more sharply: “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.”

If Mark Twain were alive today he would teach at Wizard Academy. In Twain’s absence, we bring you Sid Lloyd.

2. Fear of Struggle

ANTIDOTE: Commitment

“Commitment means that it is possible for a man to yield the nerve center of his consent to a purpose or cause, a movement or an ideal, which may be more important to him than whether he lives or dies.” – Howard Thurman

Show me a person without commitment and I’ll show you a person bored out of their wits.

“I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house, and he will die of despair.” – John Steinbeck

Most people think commitment is a consequence of passion. But it’s the other way around. Passion is a product of commitment. If your life is without passion, make a commitment.

“When I hear somebody sigh that life is hard, I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'” – Sydney J. Harris

3. Fear of Failure

ANTIDOTE: Laughter and a Sense of Wonder

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder… he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” – Rachel Carson

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde

“Do not take life too seriously – you will never get out of it alive.” – Elbert Hubbard

“But why think about that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see?” – Jack Kerouac

4. Fear of Death

ANTIDOTE: Celebrating the Ordinary

“Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.” – Grace Hansen

“It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It's called living.” – Terry Pratchett

“And here's a secret I learned six summers ago, lying in a ditch beside the road, covered in my own blood and thinking I was going to die: you go out broke. Everything's on loan, anyway. You're not an owner, you're only a steward. So pass some of it on.” – author Stephen King, speaking to the graduating class of the University of Maine, May 7, 2005

The young rabbi who spoke about dancing in the rain originally said it this way,

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble (storms.) But be of good cheer; (learn to dance in the rain,) for I have overcome the world.”

Read it for yourself in the sixteenth chapter of John.

Merry Christmas,

Roy H. Williams

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