The Worried Cow

There was a lush green island in the tropicals. A big and healthy cow lived there. The cow enjoyed the endless grasslands on this island and used to get fatter and healthier each day. During the day, the cow used to roam the island, chewing the delicious grass and herbs to her heart’s content. However, as dusk fell and it got dark, the cow used to worry about the next day. The cow used to think, “What will I eat tomorrow? There doesn’t to be any food left.”

The cow used to stress so much about the future that she used to get thin during the night. Whatever nourishment she got during the day, would be burnt because of the worrying during the night. In the morning, she used to be thin again from all the agonizing and stress. The cow used to look shaky and unkempt in the morning due to lack of sleep the previous night!

As the sun shone each day and the green grass was visible again, the cow would be overjoyed. Without wasting a singe minute, she used to pounce on the grass and eat as if there was no tomorrow. During the day, the cow used to gain back the weight she had lost due to the stress the previous night. This cycle kept on repeating, day after day, week after week, year after year.

One day the cow thought, “I spend my day enjoying the tasty grass but I loose all the nourishment that I have gained in the night as I worry about not finding any grass the next day. But every morning, there is plenty of grass for me and I enjoy it daily. There is abundance but I don’t seem to have faith in it. I wonder why I behave this way. What kind of stupidity is this? What I put together in the day, I myself destroy in the night. I need to change. Why can’t I change? It seems that this has become my second nature and I can’t seem to do anything about it.

So the cow was aware that she had taken the wrong approach to life but was unwilling to change. There was no place for faith in her life.

The END

Learnings

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1. If we look at our lives, it is like the days in the life of the cow. When the times are good, we enjoy and relish them. We savor every moment and remain carefree. The moment there is an obstacle and we can’t seem to figure out the way forward, we stress, agonize and fret. We forget that the HIGHER POWER who had given us the good times is still there. And that power is still taking care of us. Instead of having faith and keeping our cool, we get fearful and loose our peace. We are not suggesting that we will not be challenged or not face adversity. But, not keeping our cool can lead us to panic decisions and mistakes which could take us further back. Like the cow, we forget that the sun will shine in the morning again and all will be well. We loose our well being, health and peace like the cow used to loose all the day’s nourishment.

2. This is a story of trust. The cow knew that all will be well the next morning but still was a prisoner of habit. She could not trust the divine providence and tortured herself each night. A lot of us also lack the trust in the HIGHER POWER. Sometimes, we have it but when adversity strikes, we loose it again. As long as we can have faith in divine providence, in the basic allrightness of life, we can avoid the periodic agony and darkness. We will have the ups and downs in our lives, but we will be able to deal with them better. As long as we have faith, we will stay calm and composed and spend our energy in finding the solution rather than worrying about the problem. Remember, faith can move mountains!

3. We die before we are able to change our habits. Some habits are with us due to our upbringing, childhood, parents and those are difficult to let go. But, we can change if we try hard. Do evaluate what habits you are carrying which are a drag and need to be dropped.

STORY CREDIT: This story has its source in the six volumes of Masnavi by Jalalu'din Rumi, translated by Maryam Mafi