Winston the Worried Unicorn

This is Winston. He’s a unicorn. He lives with all the other unicorns in a wonderful place. Winston loves being a unicorn. After all, what’s not to love? He spends most of his time racing on rainbow trails, playing unicorn games, and chasing butterflies. At the end of his day, he likes going back home and settling in for a nice warm mug of sweet hay milk and snacks.

One day, Winston woke up just as he always did and got ready for another great day. As soon as his friends spotted him, they challenged him to a race. Excited, Winston gladly accepted and walked with them to the field where they all liked to play.

Winston lined up ready to run as fast and as hard as he could. Racing was his favorite game. But then, a little thought he had never heard before snuck in. It was oh so quiet at first, he almost did not notice it. But then he heard it again, “Hmmm . . . are you sure you can do this? They look really fast.”

At first, Winston shook it off. Of course he could do this! He had done it a thousand times before. Winston shook his head and got ready to race. “1-2-3 GO!” And they were off! Winston was enjoying the excitement of the game, feeling his hooves thump against the ground, and seeing all his friends having a good time around him. Then he heard that thought again: What if you fall? Everyone will see. What if you don’t win? Will your friends still like you?

The thoughts were getting louder, Winston was getting distracted. He slowed down to a slow trot, quickly falling behind his friends. His friends noticed he did not make it to the finish line and went back to find him. They asked if was alright, and all Winston could say was “Oh I’m fine. It’s nothing.

But it was not nothing. Winston tried to go about his day like he usually did, but the thoughts were starting to bother him. It was hard not to listen to them when he played Golden Ring Toss by the pond: What if you miss? What if you do not get invited to the Spring Time party? Something bad is probably going to happen.

Winston noticed his worries were there in the morning, noon, and night. It made it hard to calm his mind to sleep at night, which meant he was tired in the morning. Have you ever met a unicorn who did not get a good night’s rest? They get grumpy in the morning. Winston was no longer his happy, cheery self. He started to lose some of his shine and was scared almost all of the time.

His mind became full of thoughts about things that had not happened yet and things he could not control. Worries that had once been so small seemed supersized. Winston was scared to race. He could trip and fall. He did not dare chase butterflies anymore. What if one landed on him? He worried about things big and small: Where did I put my favorite shoes? Am I being a good friend? Did I give Teddy back his book? Who will I play with tomorrow?

He worried until all poor Winston did was worry and fret. The more that he worried the duller his shine became, until one day he looked in the mirror and did not recognize his own self.

His best pal, Teddy, noticed his friend was struggling and wanted to help. “Ummm . . . are you okay?” He asked Winston what he felt inside. “It’s hard to describe. My mind is buzzing with all the scary things that could be. Even things that I once thought were fine, make me feel all jittery inside

Teddy could see his friend needed help to sort out what was what. He told Winston that when his mind gets too busy, to try to slow down the spinning, so the truth is easier to see. He said, “Your mind is trying to help keep you safe, but it’s mistaking things that are safe for things that are scary, we can work together to sort it out.”

So Teddy helped Winston start to talk back to his worries, telling his mind “Thanks for the warning, but I’m okay.” Winston learned to stop and check, to see if there really was a threat. Sometimes he needed to work out the worry jitters before he could do that, so Winston would s—t—r—e—t—c—h out to calm his body. Making a plan helped Winston see up ahead, so he would not get tricked by worries of dread.

Before long, Winston noticed his mind was quieter and he could see things for what they were…racing wasn’t scary, it was filled with excitement! And his friends never cared about who won, just so long as they were all having fun. If he was so lucky to have a butterfly land on his nose, Winston made a plan to wrinkle his nose so the butterfly could have a little dance.

Winston could see his shine slowly come back, and the more he noticed the lighter he felt. The next time he started to hear those little thoughts of doubt, he quickly took a look around and reminded himself, “Thanks for the warning, but I’m okay.” Then he looked for other things to quiet their sounds, like using his body to help get the worry jitters out, or spending time with friends who let him know they’d always be around.