Lazy.

Do you ever find yourself getting angry while watching television and people are going on and on about what society should be doing to help them in their difficult situations?

I do not find myself very often but yesterday I just could not stop myself. I do feel bad that I had this reaction. There was a person being interviewed who had five children. She had a lovely looking sitting room and the children all looked very well dressed and cared for. So she was doing a good job. There was an enormous television in the room. 

My first reaction was that she was doing well. Then she began to  complain that she was finding life hard. Her friends on Facebook seemed to have more than she did it was just not fair. The fact that she had friends on Facebook meant that she had access to internet  and data. 

The five children had four different fathers non of whom she had ever lived with. She had never had a job since leaving school because she was so often pregnant. 

Now I am aware that I was being judgemental and allowing my own very difficult and poor background to influence my thinking and you might be right to think I was in the wrong. Trust me I am giving my reaction very serious thought and will be the first to admit I might have not looked deeply enough. 

I found myself thinking about this ancient tale.

There was a very lazy man who spent most of his time finding ways to feed himself that did not involve labour.  One day he noticed a fruit farm with sweet looking fruit ready for eating. Seeing nobody around he stole into the place and began to pick some fruit.

He then noticed the owner approach and ran off into a nearby forest.

In the forest he saw something that made him stop and watch. What he saw was a fox that had lost the use of its back legs. The lazy man wondered how this fox managed to feed itself in such a condition. It cannot run after food how is it staying alive?

At that very moment a lion came into view with a piece of meat in its mouth. All the animals on seeing the lion ran away except for the fox who could not.  The lazy man got himself up into a tree. As he watched he saw the lion drop the meat before the fox!

The lazy man was amazed at the way of nature, the way of the Chi. That nature seemed to care for its own. 

He then felt that it must be the same for him that nature would look after him. So he found a comfortable place to sit and wait for nature to nurture him. He sat for two days waiting for food but nothing came his way. Finally hunger was taking over and he prepared to leave.

As he began to leave an old sage appeared on the path. He spoke to the sage about what he had seen. he then asked, "Oh wise one why has nature looked after  the crippled fox and yet that very same nature, chi, has been cruel to me?"

The old sage looked at him and smiled, "It is true that nature has its plans and its way. You are part of nature and part of that plan. But my son. You have read this sign that you saw wrongly. Nature does not want you to be like the fox. Nature wants you to be like the lion."

I know some of my friends who read these will tell me, various things. Trust me I am doing loads of thinking. 

Have a marvellous day.