I recently heard a story and it set me off thinking on how well this compares to our daily lives. I will share the story first –
Once a Shepherd while taking his flock of sheep for grazing near a forest, hears a whining sound. He traces himself towards it, only to find a lion cub and its dead mother. Feeling pity, he picks up the cub and takes it home along with his flock of sheep. Soon the lion cub starts growing with the other sheep’s. The lion cub fed itself on grass and also started bleating like a sheep. It eventually grew into a big strong – SHEEPISH LION.
One day the Shepherd took his flock including the sheepish lion for grazing. Suddenly a wild lion jumped from its hiding and attacked the flock. On seeing the lion all including the sheepish lion flees. Seeing a big grown up lion running at his sight, the wild lion chases down the sheepish lion and asks-
Wild lion: I know why the man and sheep are running but why are you running from me?
Sheepish lion: I am a sheep too, Please don’t kill me !!
Wild lion: Are you crazy, you are a lion
Sheepish Lion: No I am a sheep no…
How much ever the wild lion tried reasoning with the sheepish lion, it wouldn’t agree. To prove his point, the sheepish lion even says - look I eat grass and bleats out like a sheep. The wild lion now determined pulls the sheepish lion to a nearby pond and tells it to look at the reflection. Now the sheepish lion is startled. It realizes that it too looked like the WILD LION. The wild lion now encourages the REALIZED LION to roar. Though initially only bleating sound came, on constant practice the natural roar of a lion eventually resonates and it moves into the forest to live like a lion.
Here the sheepish lion is ourselves, wild lion can be either our well-wisher or intellect. Pond represents all the available resources we have. Bleating is akin to our mind meekly projecting our fears and weaker side. Roar is the call we get to rise above the ordinary.
The modern man seems to be comfortable leading a miserable life, often bleating and undermining the true strength in him. Our mind which is often the one directing us, is both the friend and foe. Mind is misled by the power of imagination. It forces one to either detest what is ‘’imagined’’ to be unfavourable or court what it ‘’imagines’’ to be favourable. We console ourselves to live with our fears, and stay put in our comfort zones. Thus many times we fail to exploit the true strength/talent in us or opportunities that come by. The knowledge we have is the pond. It is obsolete unless it comes to use when needed – and when used at the right moment, it is called wisdom. Seek help to realize the true potential in us. Reach out to self-help books, pep talks, coaches, motivational speakers etc or follow some great people we have here on Linkedin. Wisdom leads one to give all our experiences the right value and thereby giving us a roar to rise above the situations we face in life and act.
As we close the year, it’s a great time to introspect and find the sheepish lion in us, only to make it realize the true nature – the REAL LION.
