Hello.
I am off work today, and bored........
Soooo, I'm trying to stay busy, I thought it would be a good idea to write up this analogy I once read. I'll probably not get the details right, but I hope most of you can follow the logic of it.
There was once a man who wanted to catch a tiger. At the edge of the forest, he set a trap out. He hid high in a tree at the edge of the forest and waited for the tiger to come and get caught in the trap.
This is what he saw:
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The tiger emerged from the forest, saw the cage and froze in his tracks. He stood there for a long time, watching the cage, sniffing it, wondering about it, and why it was there. Finally, he ran back into the forest, scared to approach any closer.
The man waited and watched. He could see the tiger in the forest, for he had gone back into the forest, but not too deep into it.
Then, he approached again. This time he came a little closer to the cage, but not completely up to it. He continued to be on edge, his body tense, his every nerve taut and ready to flee.
Then, a noise in the distance scared him away again, and the tiger took off running, but this time, he only went as far as the
edge of the forest, but not all the way into it.
After another long while, the tiger approached the cage again, sniffing the wind, catching a scent of the "bait" inside. He wanted it. He really did! ! But he was scared. So scared, he couldn't make himself approach it. He just stood there, undecided, sniffing into the air, and enjoying the "presence" of the bait, wanting desperately to taste, to devour it.
But his experiences up to that time had included cages before, and he had decided
he never wanted to be in that cage again. So he kept his distance.
The man in the tree was getting impatient, so he moved toward the tiger, which made the tiger run away again. This time the tiger stayed gone a longer time, but not as far away.
When he felt it was "safe" again, he approached the cage door. He stuck his head in the door, but them immediately ran all the way back to the forest again. His heart was beating faster. His head was telling him to STAY AWAY!
The tiger knew he wanted what was in the cage, but he'd been trapped by it before. It had almost killed him before. That trapped feeling, that cage door closing. That's why he had run so far into the woods and stayed gone so long last time.
What would happen this time if he allowed himself to come back to the cage? Would things be different? Or would his "owner" treat him with the same callousness, indifference as before? And what if she did? Would he be able to escape again? What if nothing had changed, and he'd willingly come back to the same feelings of being unloved, uncared for and lonely? How could he stand it?
But the lure of the cage, the security of it, the open door, the bait he loved tasting.......it all kept pulling him closer and closer to the cage. He came back. He stood for a long time, contemplating his next move. He was paralyzed in fear for a long time.
And the man in the tree watched. He dared not even breathe. Every moment was critical, every breath was measured. The tiger had to decide on his own if the cage he had known for so long was going to be his home again.
He was close. He was getting closer all the time. The man knew what would ultimately happen. The tiger loved the cage on some level. He loved the feeling of being cared for. The tiger knew the right thing to do. But he was scared. He had been hurt before.
And now here was the cage again. Open. Alluring. Tempting. He turned to run away. But he could only take a few small steps away. He turned to look again at the cage door. It was still open. It seemed like it would never close and lock on him again. But what if it did? What if he was trapped once he stepped inside?
He walked closer. He stepped into the doorway. He looked around. Then he ran again. It was too dangerous! It was too tempting. He was only a few steps away. Nothing bad had happened to him this time. Maybe this time it would be different?
Should he take the chance? Should he step inside? Should he trust the cage door this time to stay open for him to be free to choose to come and go?
What should he do? So many questions clouded his thoughts.
The man knew he couldn't help the tiger make a decision. All he could do wwas watch and wait. The tiger must decide for himself if he wanted to be in that cage ever again.
The tiger kept getting closer all the time. He was now only a nose-distance away. He was frozen in indecision. He wasn't running quite so far away each time now. But he had to make a decision. He couldn't stay here in the clearing. Yet he found that he couldn't say away from the clearing. And the cage.
He knew he had to decide....
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