First I want to tell you a story we all know.
One day a lion was walking in across the savanna and stepped on a thorn with each limping step the thorn worked its way deeper into his paw. Roaring and growling in pain he approached the other animals but they were scared and fled from him and would not help. Try as he might he could not get the thorn out and finally the great king of beast flopped dejected on the dry ground and whimpered. A little mouse approached him and without fear asked what was wrong. When the lion explained the mouse helped him and went on his way.
Hearing this story we most often think about the character of the mouse, how he was brave and good natured. Sometimes we think about the character of the lion how his anger and reputation drove people away. What I want to look at today is the thorn. We all have thorns stuck in our paws whether we know it or not. We limp about life sometimes not even realizing that the thorn is there. Thorns can be anything we are holding on to old hurts, anger at ourselves and others, or maybe a frustration with circumstances. If we are lucky a friendly and helpful mouse will come along to get the thorn out for us but we cannot count on this.
Yesterday I realized that I still have a thorn in my paw; you might have seen me limping because of it yesterday. The thorn in my case is a fear of failure and the need despite current successes to prove to myself that I can succeed every day. And one thing I found was that while I know intellectually that failure only happens when you stop trying that does not always translate to the hart knowing. When did I pick up this thorn I am not sure but it has been there for quite a while.
The important thing is to recognize your thorns. Know that they are limiting your mobility and start trying to repair the damage a little at time. Pulling the thorn is just the second step; we do this when we remove the stimulus for the hurt from our lives. This may mean letting go of the hurt someone has caused you, or reminding yourself that one stumble is not a fall. After that comes the healing. The wound is still open and other things can get in there. A bit of anger may lodge like a stone in the cut. As we heal we need to pay attention to that wound and not let it fester. Being aware of ourselves and our mental state will help this. This is where I am at with my current thorn and would like to thank the helpful and courageous mice who stopped by yesterday with the tweezers and Bactine.
Have you pulled any thorns from your paws? What have you done to help the wound heal?
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7 comments:
I have had a lot of thorns come from me in the form of other people. Of course, I know I can't solely blame other people when bad things happen because something inside of me made me gravitate towards the wrong types of people.
The difficult part is removing that thorn and not making the same mistakes again.
I know all to well about thorns. However, ultimately I know there is a bigger lesson to be learned.
I only wish sometimes the lesson wasn't such a painful one.
I know the key to my happiness is in loving myself without needing the approval or validation of others.
However, it still doesn't take away the wrong which was done so at times I still dwell on the thorn.
I wish I knew in my heart everything would be okay. I know I must dig deep down inside and find a way to believe again.
Because without faith, hope ceases to exist and only fear remains.
The key to dealing with the thorns of other people is to forgive and let it go. If we hold it against them when things can not change we only hurt our selves. Letting go is not easy but it is necessary. thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Quinn - Well said. Oh yeah, I've had my share of thorns. And as I read your post, I'm thinking we all have a little mouse inside of us with bactine and bandaids. But sometimes we forget she's there.
Thanks patty your mention of the mouse inside made my night. I really do have to remember my inner mouse more often
I read a book recently, but I can't remember the name at the moment and it said exactly this! That until we remove our 'thorns' we'll go around limping or avoiding anyone bumping into them. It said it causes us to live life out of balance and in avoidance, just so that we don't knock the thorn and cause ourselves more pain. I hope this makes sense. I too have had many thorns. The first step is awareness of the thorn - self honesty. The second? Changing the belief, the perception and being willing to let it go. Great post Quinn.
That definitely makes sense. And I like the point you make about avoidance because that can so much of the problem with thorns. We don;t want to cause more pain so we are not willing to make the effort to pull them out and be done with the whole damn business.
I like that - being done with the whole damn business. Yes, thorns need to come out! Once and for all. Otherwise they keep making us sore.
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