Are you running toward the roar or away?
I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and my mind begins to think about all the things that could happen – might happen – are happening. And I come to the same conclusion: There are some things that I cannot change.
They just are.
The truth of the matter is, no one really knows what is going to happen. I move from day to day and some feel more normal than others (as long as I stay away from the news or social media).
All of this uncertainty creates friction with my natural desire to plan, protect and secure those around me and myself. So where do I go from here?
The answer comes from the savannas of Africa. We must run to the roar!
On YouTube, storyteller Michael Meade shares a teaching delivered by African elders to their youth. When I watched this, my ears perked up and my heart skipped a beat! It highlights that we can always choose how we perceive and interact with the world around us, regardless of what is happening.
In the teaching we learn:
Older lions—who are incapable of taking down prey—set up in the tall grasses across from the younger ones while hunting. When a herd moves in between the young and old, the old lions roar. The animals instinctively scatter and move away from the ferocious roar – straight into the real danger – the teaching tells us that if the herd would merely run to the roar, most of them would be spared.
After listening, I thought that this informs our current predicament. I questioned what direction I was headed. The roar has sounded – our cortisol spikes have scattered us and sent us running. How many of us are heading right into danger or acting in ways that don’t support the survival of the herd?
I am truly interested in how can we all turn and run to the roar? What is our instinct telling us to do right now? Are we feeling like running away or running toward?
What if we acknowledge the lions in front of us – the fear and the instincts to protect ourselves– and make a conscious choice to communicate better with our workforce? What if those who have more give to those who have less? What if a landlord’s interest rates or tax assessments are reassessed this year and these savings passed on to tenants? What if we could acknowledge every day that we are ebbing and flowing and share our truth with those around us?
What if we all found ways to run to the roar? What would be our personal contributions?
As my colleague has suggested to me, we need to “make personal sacrifice and broad changes to keep the herd safe and in tact.”
By choosing to run to the roar – we’re being proactive – we’re channeling courage and hope and possibility. We’re showing younger members of our society that if they’re met by a ferocious roar, they’ll have a model to follow and elders to thank.
Let’s run toward rather than away!
