The Lion and The Mouse

No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted. - Aesop

Do you remember the fable of the lion and the mouse ? To paraphrase loosely, in Aesop’s tale, the mouse comes to the lion, who is roaring in great pain from the thorn in his paw, and removes the thorn. Later on, the lion saves the mouse’s life. It’s a parable for teaching us to practice “random acts of kindness” wherever we can, never knowing how, or when, these acts will catch back up to us and bless us in some way. It’s a wonderful idea to think about: a small gesture of kindness boomeranging around to create an even larger kindness to ourselves. Eastern traditions call this one arm of “karma”. Christians refer to the Bible verse from Hebrews, “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.” This means that one must be diligent in the kindness you present to the outside world….and in doing so, you will be rewarded for your generosity, either spiritually or practically.

While these concepts are wonderful to think about, sometimes, they’re awfully hard to practice. After all, we don’t live in a fairy tale world. We have work to do, laundry to wash, dogs to walk, errands to run, bills to pay, children to ferry to activities and school, and all the messes to clean up. We are exhausted. Even going to a yoga class feels like work at times ! I had a wonderful Yoga teacher that lamented how all of his students were coming into class complaining, “Oh, I was sure I’d be late. Let’s get this over with…”, thinking of yoga as one more item to check off on the to do list. There are days when just being polite seems more than we can handle. How can we possibly cultivate kindness when we are rushed, harried, grumpy and worried ?

There is no magic that will transform us overnight from stressed out to blissful. We can pray, we can meditate, we can practice yoga or other forms of exercise than benefit our bodies and minds. We can get good sleep at night, and eat well. But, none of these things will take away our schedules. They’ll help us get a handle on how best to deal with the chaos, but they won’t transform our daily existence from neurotic soccer mom to enlightened being. I believe this is why so many people get frustrated and give up. I have had my moments of thinking, “I just can’t do this one more day. My kids are fighting all the time, I have bills I can’t pay, my husband is working long hours, one dog just threw up on the good rug and other one ate the sofa.” Not to mention that I’ve felt fat, ugly, stupid and ill equipped to deal with the realities of life.

So, what made me feel as if I could pull out that thorn ? In my very humble opinion, it’s with baby steps. I tackle one task off my list, instead of looking at the whole list. Instead of snarking at my children to quit fighting, I compliment them during the times they are kind. I tell my husband how much I value his working so hard to give us a good life. I walk the dogs and praise them for good behavior (and have the couch recovered). I address these issues inside my home first. I find that, when I am kind at home, little by little, the kindness is returned. The dogs benefit from the extra attention and are less likely to consume large pieces of furniture. The children see each other with new eyes. My husband feels honored and appreciated. I may not have pulled the thorn out of the lion’s paw, and I am quite certain I will never reach perfection, but my little acts of kindness at home seem to carry weight that does transcend our house.

Have I entertained angels unknowingly ? I don’t know…but I can hope. And, always have my best lasagne ready to go into the oven.