THE STORY OF THE FOX AND HIS SHADOW

A fox gets up early in the morning and sees its shadow. The shadow is very, very big and so the fox thinks, "Goodness, I didn't realise I was so big but, since I am, I will need an elephant for my breakfast." He searches all day for an elephant but he cannot find one and so he is unhappy.

Discustion:

Betty was from an extremely privileged background. She was pretty, rich, from a good family and everyone around her was very nice to her. But Betty constantly complained about everything. Either she did not receive the right kind of gift, or she was not invited to some party, or felt she was not respected or loved enough. Everyone tried to please her but her demands just continued to increase. There was also in the neighbourhood a young man called Dan, who was disabled and dependent on his family for his physical care. There were considerable limitations as to what Dan could achieve in his life but he would always say that life was a wonderful gift. The sparkle in his eyes conveyed those feelings to everyone he met.
What is the difference between the Betty and Dan? What makes the privileged complain about life and the disadvantaged appreciate everything?
The difference is the shadow. Just like the fox, we create an image of ourselves. When the shadow gets bigger, we start looking for an elephant to eat. Nothing is good enough. In fact, we may create many shadows and each of them has demands. One wants bigger gifts, another more respect, another more love, another a bigger hat. Nothing is good enough, because the shadows are getting larger. Betty has a big shadow. Dan has a smaller shadow or possibly no shadow. When there are no shadows, life is experienced as a gift.
It is worth questioning on what grounds we make demands on this life. They may be small demands, based on food or friends, or that we should be treated in a certain way, or even that we should have a healthy body. But on what grounds do we make these demands? Simply because we had food, friends, respect and health yesterday, we expect to have the same today. Yet many on this planet did not have any of these things yesterday. Maybe today it will be their turn to have them. There is no reason for the world to owe us a favour in preference to others who are less fortunate. We should therefore question the basis of our demands on family and friends, the environment, our bodies and even God. But we do have demands because our shadows have become bigger, like Betty's. If we were to drop these shadows then we would drop our demands. We would not take anything for granted. With no shadows, we would discover a sense of lightness, gratitude and appreciation. We would feel that our body is a gift and so we would not place any demands on it to be perfect. The very fact that we have friends is a gift. That there is a day at all, and there are clouds and trees around us, would all be seen as a gift. Nature does not owe us anything. When we think like this, life becomes a wonder.

When we create these shadows, we trap ourselves into a web of expectations. We may have to find a way to reduce the size of our shadows before we can use our wings.