Poodles and Lions

During a tour of the African safari, a little poodle got separated from its master and started to wander around trying to find her.  Tired, the poodle laid down by a watering hole to get a drink.  In the brush not too far away was a hungry lion.  The lion had never seen a poodle before but was not too worried about losing to it because of the poodle's petite size.  Sensing the impending danger, the poodle began to think to itself, "Whatever shall I do!  I cannot outrun a lion and if I try to defend myself I will surely be killed!"  The poodle then looked next to her to find a collection of bones.  As the lion began to come out of the brush, the poodle started to gnaw on the bones.  "Man that was a great lion!" the poodle faked.  "I hope that there's another one around here somewhere."  The lion, startled that this little thing had killed one of his kind so easily, backed off slowly so as not to draw attention to itself, fearing for its life.

After walking for a little bit, the lion heard a monkey above him laughing.  "You foolish coward!  There is no way that little poodle could kill one of you!  She was faking!  Go back there and show the poodle what for."  Filled with anger of being tricked, the lion sprinted back towards where the little dog had tricked him.  However, the poodle had tailed the lion to make sure that he was not deceiving her and heard the monkey tell the lion these things.  She made her way back to where the bones where and shortly after the lion showed up once more.  Just as he was about to pounce on the poodle, the little dog threw one of the bones into the watering hole angrily, shouting, "Now where is that damn monkey with my next lion!  I'm hungry again!"

 I admit, this is a pretty cute story when you get past the blood lust and deception.  However, there is a main theme in this tale that really spoke to me the first time I heard it: confidence.  If a poodle were to go against a lion, hands down I think that we would all bet on the lion winning.  However, by using ingenuity and confidence, the poodle was able to save its life and scare away the lion.

If I may, I think we all have days where we consider ourselves "poodles."  Maybe we aren't getting along with the boss because of a difference of opinions, or we feel bullied to believe something that we just can't accept. These things are the "lions" that cause us to falter or cower in fear of not fitting in, being successful, or what-have-you.  Deep down, though, there's that little piece of us that knows that we're right or that knows that we should stand up for what we believe in.  The only thing that keeps us from listening to this little voice is our lack of confidence.  This lack of confidence could manifest itself in many different forms: inexperience because of young age, a natural tendency towards passivity, or even ghosts of the past that make us afraid of falling again.  We can't let these things dictate our lives though.

Now, I'm not saying that you should suddenly become some sort of prophet and preach that everything you believe is right no matter what other people say.  What I would challenge you to do though, humble reader, is to think of a part of your life that makes you feel "poodle-like" and to step up and say "I believe that I can make this situation better."  I, myself, have had to do this countless times as a musician, brother, and fellow human being.  Even if it's the tiniest thing in our lives that makes us feel like a "poodle," then that's still one thing that by rising up and proclaiming our confidence in ourselves to change that one thing we make our lives better.  And that, my friends, is our teaser to next entry's topic: making our lives better little by little.

-Cyril

Thought of the Day


"Not only strike when the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking."
-Oliver Cromwell