The Lion Story
I have a reflective story to share. The publisher of the Ignite Series, JB Owen, sent this tidbit to all the Ignite authors (I was a contributor to “Ignite Your Adventurous Spirit”).
I felt JB’s shared story was inspiring.
You see, we all grow up within our society’s expectations of what we should be and do. Many of us don’t feel like we ‘fit in’ to these expectations. Such is my case and I hope yours too — because we should be living up to OUR expectations, not someone else’s!! This story reflects such a belief….
There was once a pregnant lion that was on its last leg. She dies soon after giving birth. The newborn not knowing what to do makes its way into a nearby field and mingles with a herd of sheep. The mother sheep sees the cub and decides to raise it as its own.
And so, the lion cub grows up along with the other sheep and starts thinking and acting just like a sheep. It would bleat like a sheep and even eat grass! But it was never truly happy. For one, it always felt that there was something missing. And secondly, the other sheep would constantly make fun of it for being so different. They would say, You are so ugly, and your voice sounds so weird. Why can’t you bleat properly like the rest of us? You are a disgrace to the sheep community! The lion would just stand there and take in all these remarks feeling extremely sad. It felt it had let down the sheep community by being so different and that it was a waste of space.
One day, an older lion from a far-off jungle sees the herd of sheep and decides to attack it. While attacking, it sees the young lion running away along with the other sheep. Curious as to what was happening, the older lion decides to stop chasing the sheep and pursues the younger lion instead. It pounces on the lion and growls asking it why it is running away with the sheep.
The younger lion shakes in fear and says, “Please don’t eat me; I am just a young sheep. Please let me go!”
Upon hearing this, the older lion growls, “That’s nonsense! You are not a sheep, you are a lion, just like me!”
The younger lion simply repeats, “No, I know I am a sheep, please let me go.”
At this point, the older lion gets an idea. It drags the younger lion to a river nearby and asks it to look at its reflection. Upon looking at the reflection, the lion much to its own astonishment realizes who it really was; it was not a sheep, it was a mighty lion!
The young lion feels so thrilled that it lets out a mighty roar. The roar echoes from all corners of the jungle and frightens the living daylights out of all the sheep that were hiding behind the bushes to see what was happening. They all flee away.
No longer will the sheep be able to make fun of the lion or even stand close to it for the lion had found its true nature and its true herd.
I encourage YOU to find your true nature and your true herd!
Janie J is the author of “Live the Life You Have Imagined,” “Single and Sixty,” “The Unimagined Awakening” and The New I Am Document, Volume 1.”
She began writing books after a spiritual awakening let her tap into universal wisdom. Her mission is to help others live a life of more joy and understanding and to raise the consciousness of all humankind. Get started on your own journey with a free copy of the Connect to Transform Process at www.TheNewIAMMovement.com/transform.
