Ole Blue Boy was
napping on the front porch of the farmhouse beside his favorite bone when
Little Boo and the other puppies came running around the corner, tripping over
each other in their haste, and rolled to a stop right in front of him.
"Whatever are we
going to do?" yelped Boo. "The coyotes are coming! Run for your
life!" Then they took off toward the barn to warn the other animals.
At that, Rosie, the
mamma cat, ran to gather up her kittens. As she passed the pig pen, she yelled
out, "Warning, warning! The coyotes are coming!"
In a panic, the pigs
ran around & around the pen. They slipped and slid in the mud, grunting as
they knocked into each other.
The horses in the
field saw all the commotion and yelled, "Hey, pigs, what's up?" "Save
yourself! The coyotes are coming!" they cried.
One after another,
all the animals at the farm heard the news and quickly made preparations for
the evil coyotes.
All except Old Blue.
He was wise about the ways of puppies. And he knew full well that coyotes don't
call ahead to let you know they're coming.
"Hold up there,
Little Boo," called Old Blue amidst the chaos. "How do you know the
coyotes are coming?"
"Because Crafty
Crow told me," she exclaimed.
Right then and there,
Old Blue knew something was up. "Really," he drawled. "And just
where did he tell you this?"
"On the deck where
we were eating," said Boo.
Old Blue took Little Boo
around to the deck. There, having a lively party, were a flock of crows
feasting on the dog food.
"What a great
trick that was," one crow squawked, "fooling everyone into thinking
the coyotes were coming so we could eat all the dog food!"
Poor Little Boo! If
only she had stopped to think, she wouldn't have caused such utter chaos at the
farm. But that's the way it is with puppies: they go full force with the emotion of
the moment, even if it is illogical.
Unfortunately, we
often tend to do the same ourselves. How many times have you seen a group of
people in utter chaos over something that turns out to be insignificant?
As an example, take
the media. They try to do this to us all the time, just for ratings. If
something horrific happens somewhere, that night on the local news there's
always a segment about, "Can it happen here?"
They try to get
everyone riled up and, unfortunately, many people simply let themselves be
manipulated. Rather than stopping to find the truth, they find themselves
panicking over a situation they really know nothing about.
If you're wise,
though, you'll take time to stop, think, and seek the truth. A calm mind is
critical when everyone else seems to be losing theirs!
But how do you stay
calm and collected, especially in stressful situations?
The first thing to do
is to stop and take a deep breath. This action relaxes your muscles, sends some
extra oxygen to your brain for clarity in thinking, and gives you a moment to
consider your options.
Focus on separating
the facts from the hearsay. Once you've clarified the real problem, you can
seek an appropriate solution.
Now, isn't that much wiser
than simply running to and fro in a panic? Things always turn out better when
you take a moment to think before acting