I dreamt I had been given a walking stick carved with talismans and writings and images as an important and powerful gift to be with me for the rest of my life. Later, I was stopped by someone who knew what it who said, “Do you know what this is? Do you know what you have?”

I knew perfectly well everything it was, but I said, “No, what? Please tell me what this means,” wanting to know if they would tell me anything new. The old stranger went over the whole object, describing many of the writings, symbols and markings, sometimes correctly, sometimes not. I listened patiently, realizing that I know all along what the gifts I've been given mean more than anyone else does.

However, then he said, “You should know is that while this gift will help you focus and direct your power, if you progress in your life with it, your energy and abilities will become entwined with it and you will later not be as strong without it as you would otherwise be without it.”

I imagined myself in a scenario where someone had removed it from me and then I was vulnerable, more vulnerable than I would have been had I developed in my abilities without the gift to aid me.

I puzzled over this dilemma until I woke up. Do I accept a gift and integrate it with my life, knowing that while using the gift would make me stronger, it also meant that if I was separated from it, I would be weaker? In storytelling structure, the hero receives gifts from people he meets along the way. These gifts always help the hero later, and become key parts of the story and help the hero overcome future obstacles. The gifts don't have to come from friendly characters either, sometimes you receive gifts from people who were not very nice at all. Have you ever had a really bad experience in your life that taught you a valuable lesson? Not keeping the magic staff would be like having the bad experience and then not learning the lesson.

In real life no one can take our gifts away from us if we use them. And they are useless if they are not used. It's pointless to wonder if we should try to progress without the gift of an experience. The answer is we must keep and use them, that is the whole objective.

At this point in my post-sleep haze Ryan came in and brought me a big Wonder Woman mug of coffee, and knowing that this would certainly assist me through my morning, I accepted his gift.

Lasso of Truth, Mug of Caffeine