| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: guarded. Behind these were many ranks of pixies, gnomes and nymphs, and
in the rear a thousand beautiful fairies floated along in gorgeous array.
This wonderful army was led by Wisk, Peter, Nuter, and Kilter, who had
assembled it to rescue Santa Claus from captivity and to punish the
Daemons who had dared to take him away from his beloved children.
And, although they looked so bright and peaceful, the little immortals
were armed with powers that would be very terrible to those who had
incurred their anger. Woe to the Daemons of the Caves if this mighty
army of vengeance ever met them!
But lo! coming to meet his loyal friends appeared the imposing form of
Santa Claus, his white beard floating in the breeze and his bright
 A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: defy any one to name a single one to which Agesilaus was enslaved:
Agesilaus, who regarded drunkenness as a thing to hold aloof from like
madness, and immoderate eating like the snare of indolence. Even the
double portion[1] allotted to him at the banquet was not spent on his
own appetite; rather would be make distribution of the whole,
retaining neither portion for himself. In his view of the matter this
doubling of the king's share was not for the sake of surfeiting, but
that the king might have the wherewithal to honour whom he wished. And
so, too, sleep[2] he treated not as a master, but as a slave,
subservient to higher concerns. The very couch he lay upon must be
sorrier than that of any of his company or he would have blushed for
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: lights behind the maze of branches and twigs.
No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. Her unpractised
mind was completely occupied in fathoming its recent acquisition.
The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling,
who had come directly from London on business to her father,
having been brought by chance to Endelstow House had, by some
means or other, acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he
had found therein, and of honouring her by petits soins of a
marked kind,--all in the space of half an hour.
What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. As nearly as
she could guess, it was Lord Luxellian's business-room, or office.
 A Pair of Blue Eyes |