The animals of our world certainly are reminding us of important life lessons this week! Today's helpful feline friend gives a graphic demonstration of fear - when afraid, you can flee or fight. When you are out of your element, it's best to get to a better vantage point, reassess the situation in order to glean information (not just collect data), and then take appropriate action.
The mountain lion in the urban area ran into some mean children, who started to scream at her. Seriously, this is not a parable. In the link below, she climbs a telephone pole to retreat from the immediate threat and determine the best course of action. She didn't attack the threat - smartly, as she was uncertain if the noisy evil kids were an actual danger to her or just "background noise". She determined she could wait out the distraction and then resume her previous path.
Sometimes, humans fight first and ask questions later. Frequently in office spaces, this happens because a boss may realize his ill-equipped skills set for his newer promotion, and out of fear he verbally lashes out to protect his space. It may be a co-worker who was promoted for her ability to navigate the landscape and pick a good ally, but again, that skills set is far from developed in order to perform her assigned role - so using tools around her, she wins battles by recruiting others to fight for her.
There is no doubt the best work scenario is having a leader (not a manager) that is mature and brilliant, coaching and allowing star employees to excel beyond their self-determined potential. [And when you find him or her, even if one of you goes to another job, by all means keep in touch as you may be able to reconnect for mentoring or jobs later!] Distractions happen, toxic situations develop, and we are left to wonder why we are working in such a zoo.
Visit a real zoo and see what the real survivors have learned. Whether you believe in creationism or evolution, both concepts believe animals were here first. They have adapted and are still here. There's a lesson in that.
http://m.vvdailypress.com/article/20150930/NEWS/150939983
