» Prologue Cont 2

Prologue Cont 2

Though we worked with our son for several years, within the first year, this disfunctional, totally withdrawn, self-stimulating, functionally retarded and "hopeless" little boy became a social, highly verbal affectionate and loving human being displaying an intellectual capability far beyond his years. Today, at five years of age, he attends a regular kindergarten class in a regular school. More socially and verbally sophisticated than his peers, Raun KahliKaufmanl enjoys and learns from the environment he touches easily, sharing his excitement and joy with everyone around him.

As we have come to embrace ourselves and those we love with the attitude of "to love is to be happy with," and explore the universe from a non-judgmental perspective, we become the children of Option. And since children provide the literal focus for this, The Second Book of The Option Process, their stories have compounded meaning and implication.

Why children now? I could say this book is born out of my deep involvement and respect for young people and articulates awesome transformations of children who have been exposed to Option not only as an educational and therapeutic technique, but also as a lifestyle alternative. I could also point to the relevance of the journeys of these children, for in their explorations and evolvements, we can watch the mirrored reflections of ourselves. Both these answers would be accurate, but somehow incomplete.

The seeds of who we have become were initially planted in our childhood. The exploration of our beliefs and the rechoosing can almost be characterized as an undoing and unlearning. The child's world presents us with a unique opportunity to witness rapid and meaningful changes precipitated by a loving and accepting attitude.

A child, unlike his older counterpart (you and me), has not yet spent years ingesting and acting on the beliefs he has adopted and empowered. His constellation of judgments and expectations are still relatively newly acquired and flexible. He has not expended endless energy and time defending or protecting who or what he is. In many ways, he is much closer than most of us to the searching, open, spontaneous, welcoming and happy infant he once was.

As we become more conscious of the food we feed our children (from sugar-infested candy to breakfast cereals with red dye), and as we try to remedy the situation, a non-judgmental perspective can give us a new clarity and insight into the profound effects and underlying messages of the beliefs which we have also been freely feeding our children - beliefs which unfortunately are no more productive or "real" than the artificial flavoring and coloring which have infiltrated most of the commodities in our diet.

Awareness and wanting bring change. Beginning with our youth is beginning with ourselves. This, then, sets the vision for this sharing.

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