Lions Wake The Lions
By Jason Henkel, Chief Balance Engineer
I'm listening to an interview with one of my favorite comedians (JP Sears). For those of you who don't know him, he's got this huge red mane of hair which he often likes to make the subject of his content.
He's a comedian who likes to mingle well-thought through purpose into his comedy. In this bit, he was playing the role of the lion (with his hair all up and crazy looking like a lion's mane). With his razor sharp wit, he discussed how lions need to wake up other lions with their influence.
We all know the guy (or gal) who is preaching their medicine to anyone who will listen. I used to be that guy! When I found something that worked well for me (in any subject), I couldn't wait to tell everyone and their mother about it. What I was ignoring was the fact that only one in ten or so were even remotely interested in my unsolicited advice. It didn't mean that what I was trying to tell/inform/teach was good or bad or right or wrong, it just meant that the receiving party was in a different season from me at that time. I go through phases of growth and phases of stagnation. I have things happen in my life, like when my daughter broke her collar bone recently one week after my son tore his knee, all while school is out of session due to COVID. In those days, if someone would have come up to me and started telling me about this great new shoe horn diet or why cold therapy is so important, I would have had ZERO interest. And that was just one of a million potential reasons for not being interested.
On this topic, if I may suggest (that is, if you are in the season of being interested in this of course), I like to take this analogy a little further. Yes, let lions wake other lions, and let the owls wake the owls. Let the chipmunks wake the chipmunks, and the turtles wake the turtles. You'll find your tribe if you are looking. If you are a lion, there are always lions out there who would love to hear you all the way 'til Sunday about that amazing Cacao ceremony that you do to remain present in daily living, or that new Simon Sinek video that blew your socks off.
Let the owls do their thing in their season. Let the dolphins play the way they play. It's what nature intended. And once I realized that, I became a much better lion. I no longer wasted my minutes and calories trying to force press round pegs in square holes. Live and let live. It's amazing how much peace this brought me when I actually internalized this and stepped away from the other proverbial animals and respected them for their role in nature and place in their journeys.
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Productively Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team