Fear can be caused by many things or events. In the fable about the Lion and the Elephant, Aesop teaches us to think differently about our fears. When we let fear take over, we are living a less-than-healthy life. For example, fear of cancer can prevent our bodies from performing in the healthiest manner.
Physiological effects of fear: High blood pressure, racing heart, faster breathing, and blood flow away from your heart out to your limbs. These reactions are good if you are in an immediate “fight or flight” situation. Long-term effects are not healthy.
The lion was more powerful than all the other animals. ‘Yet great though I may be,’ said the lion, ‘I am terribly afraid of roosters!’
It was when he was in this frame of mind that the lion came upon the elephant. The lion greeted the elephant and stopped to converse with him. When he saw that the elephant kept on flapping his ears, the lion inquired, ‘What’s the matter with you? Why do you keep on flapping your ears like that?’
As the elephant began to speak, a gnat came whizzing by and the elephant said, ‘Do you see this little thing, this little buzzing thing? If it gets inside my ear, I’m doomed.’
‘Well then,’ the lion concluded, ‘why should I die of shame? I am an excellent creature indeed, and in much better shape than this elephant. Roosters are more formidable than gnats, after all!’
Lesson for us: Focus on our strengths rather than our weaknesses or fears. When we are facing cancer or any life-threatening or changing illness that is the time we must be like the elephant and do what we can to overcome the illness AND use our strengths to face our fear.
KAREN INGALLS, AUTHOR, BLOGGER & SURVIVOR 