"O knower of all things born, I come to you with great despair in search of answers. I feel... I feel like I might die soon!", says the panting Akira.
"Akira dear, I haven't seen you in a while", says the wise, old sage as he greets Akira while peeling his apple. "Would you like an apple?"
"Apple?!", exclaims Akira. "I'm telling you I feel like I'm going to die and you're offering me an apple? How does that help?"
"Akira, my beloved, come sit next to me and have some of this apple. It's juicy, you know?", the sage emanates a comforting smile.
Akira manages to calm down a little, grabs a piece of the apple and questions the sage, "How are people able to live so long? I feel like I might die soon. With each new emotional trauma, I feel that the poison of my negative emotions continues to spread through my body, slowly squeezing the soul out of it. I feel so weak, and I am certain I will not be able to take another blow of poison disguised in my negative emotions. And there's nothing I can do because one's emotions are obviously out of one's control, just like the weather, and obviously even if I try I-"
"Dear Akira, look at that beautiful peacock flaunting his feathers", the sage interrupts Akira.
Akira looks at the peacock and remarks, "I'm surprised to see him so calm despite the deadly, venomous snake slithering his way towards him."
As the two indulge themselves in seeing the exchange between the snake and the peacock, they notice that the snake rises up to infiltrate his venom into the peacock's body and steal his life methodically. But just before the snake can fulfil his destiny, the peacock promptly grabs the reptile by his beak and gobbles him down like he never existed. In devouring the snake's venom, the peacock shudders and quivers, but then miraculously exudes colours all the more vibrant and plumage all the more beautiful.
"Whoa!", exclaims Akira. "I've never seen something like that!"
"Yes, quite fascinating indeed.", the sage agrees. "Poisonous snakes are the truth of life. But to die with poisonous bites is certainly not our destiny. The choice is ultimately ours, to be bitten by poison or to bite the poison."
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We are swarmed by, what we perceive as negative emotions, in our daily lives. And to be honest, these feelings of anger, anxiety and pain will never cease to exist as they're a part of our existence. They only get stronger with each blow as we allow them to feed on us. So, do we have a choice?
The peacock in this story sets a great example. Instead of being bitten by venom, he chooses to accept the venom. He recognizes the venom, ingests it, digests it and transforms it into beautiful colours. Just like the peacock, our challenge is to recognize our negative emotions, gulp them down and accept them, and use them to empower our minds rather than being empowered by them.
Read a book, feed a dog, go for a walk. There are countless means of harmonizing selves with universe again, despite the blow of negative emotions. Take the initiative and transform, just like the peacock.
#LaughingAnanas
