Power of Being Present

So my buddy got into some shit with this hustler and was out some money.

My buddy was already out 400 dollars and this guy had contacted him and they were going to meet up and basically, this guy was just going to keep "asking" him for more and more money.

I was talking with my buddy when he got the call and he asked if I could be there for him. I told him, of course but with a few stipulations

1. I wanted my buddy to not say anything, even if what I was doing sounded crazy

2. I needed my buddy to take every last dollar out of his bank account and get a receipt

3. We have to meet him somewhere public

So we head over to meet him at a location we chose and we get there and Fame comes in like 5 minutes later. So I tell Fame that my buddy doesn't have much money and neither do I but that we're willing to "Help" him out.

(This whole thing was disguised, on his end, as "asking" for money)

So I tell him, look, I'm going to give you 300 dollars because I want to help you but that's all we have and to prove it I show him the receipts.

Show him the receipts and he sees we have no more money in our accounts.

Hand him over the money and then after he has it, I look him dead in the eyes and I say, "Now look man, you have more money than we have right now. I know that because I know how much money he gave you yesterday and how much we gave you today and you saw our bank accounts, so you know how much money we have.... So I'm asking you- can you help us out"

And he just sits there, stunned and I just stay present as fuck and look him dead in the eyes and he goes, "What do you need" and I say, "Between us, we need 300 dollars"

And then there is nothing said and he just goes, "Yeah man- I got you" And hands us back the 300 we had just given to him.

Then something happens and he starts to go NUTS- totally flips out.

And the thing is that I've had these moments myself, where I flip out at someone and I know that I'm overreacting. So I remain present and calm and I go, "Let's take a walk" and he's cursing at us and flipping out and we walk and after about 5 minutes he calms down and I look at him and I go:

"Look- I'm not going to go to that place man. I know how you feel, I know what made you act that way- I've been there and I'm not going there with you... but I do have one favor to ask of you"

and he goes, "What"

and I go, "I need you to forgive yourself- it's okay. I want you to keep telling yourself over and over again that it's okay and I want you to forgive yourself"

And then I take my finger and run it across his head and i go, "I want you to remember that every single time you do something like that- just remember to forgive yourself" and I run my finger from the back of his head to the front and i go, "I just want you to keep recalling what I just told you- forgive yourself"

and I shit you not the dude goes, "Yeah man, that's some real shit" and then gets a smile on his face and starts talking to us like we're friends and I go

"Look man, you know we don't have anymore money, you know we don't have a place for you, so all we have left is friendship and love and that's where I want us to be from now on"

And he slaps my hand and we shoot the shit and move on.

I NEVER plan on seeing that guy again. Holy shit. Scariest situation I've ever been in.

I didn't get my buddy's money back from the night before but I was able to keep COMPLETE control of a situation by remaining present and not reacting to him.