Do you know that story about the Lion and the Mouse?   It may be one of Aesop’s Fables… or a Golden Book… or an African Folk Lore Tale.  Not sure.  But.  As I remember, the Lion has a thorn in its paw, and the only one in the jungle who is brave enough to remove it is a little Mouse?  Of course, the Lion is incredibly relieved and as a result, he is very grateful to the Mouse.  He even shines a great big toothy smile at that Mouse.

Something along those lines.

I was reminded of this today.  I had an eye exam.  For the past few months, my left eye has been irritated at times.  It felt like something was in it… and more often than not, it hurt.  So the doctor discovered I had an eyelash growing in the wrong direction…. up back into my eye.  He plucked that sucker right out of there… and for the first time in a month… my eye went….”Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”  Oh my gosh.  It felt so much better right away.

Hence, the lion and the mouse story.

And then I got to thinking.  Wouldn’t it be great… if once a day… we could be the mouse for some lion in our lives?  It wouldn’t have to be earth-shattering…. like curing their terrible illness… or stopping them from stepping off a curb into traffic.  No.  It could be really little and simple.  Like a stuck thorn, or some rogue eyelash.

It could be someone we know very well, or a complete stranger.  Who knows. Maybe we always throw our dirty socks on the floor, and this makes your honey a little crazy.  Well, maybe today, we put them in the laundry basket.  Or…. someone is struggling with a sack of groceries trying to open a door.  So we take the time to open it.  A homeless person, who is hungry… and we might buy them a sandwich.

It could go a different way.  Someone is sad, or stressed, or angry. Maybe we can be a listening ear, or a babysitter, or an errand-runner.  Shoot.  It might even be just telling a little joke, or going out for some dinner.

We are just visitors here.  With a whole bunch of other visitor’s just like us.  No one stays in this realm forever.  Not as we know it.  At times on this journey of ours, we are simply trying to find our way through this jungle.   One step at a time.

Wouldn’t it be a good thing to help people, however great or small…. as they try to navigate through?  We all need a little help…. at times.

I think it would be a great thing, if just today…. we could be the mouse.  To work up enough courage to do something…. anything… which might make someone’s life a little easier.  Or less painful.  Or happier.

Pull that thorn from a paw.  Or an eyelash from an eye.

And when we do…. the Universe will open its arms… and smile.

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The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.  —  Albert Schweitzer