The Lion and the Sheep

There was once a pregnant lion that was on her last legs. She dies soon after giving birth. The newborn cub, 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 younger 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 bleats, “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!

Hint: The older lion in this story is not an external entity. It is an internal entity. It lives right inside you. It’s your self-awareness. Your true self. Looking at the reflection in the water is a metaphor for self-reflection.

Allow your awareness to shine light onto all your limiting beliefs. Reflect. Find who you truly are.

Something to think about...

“Self-awareness doesn't stop you from making mistakes. It allows you to learn, grow and discover who you truly are.”

- Teresa Badrock