Once upon a
time there was an elephant standing in a pond happily eating some twigs.  The twigs were so tasty and nutritious that
he felt like he was in heaven.  He was
having a splendid time.  Now the elephant
happened to find the most delicious stick on the tree.  It was so delicious, so scrumptious that it
made him the happiest elephant in the whole jungle.  And as he was about to take another bite of
that fibrous stick, it suddenly slipped from his trunk and kerplopped into the
water.  And do you know what that
elephant did next?  He went crazy trying
to find that stick!  He splashed and
thrashed and stomped his feet in anger and the more he splashed and the more he
thrashed what do you suppose happened to the water?  It got muddier and muddier and the muddier it
got, the harder and harder it became to find his stick. 

Now nearby,
sitting on a log, basking in the sun was a green frog with gold-speckled
eyes.  The frog sat there watching the
elephant frantically stomping around looking for his stick, and finally he said
in a quiet voice:

“Be
still.” 

But the
elephant wasn’t listening.  He was too
busy splashing around. 

“Be still,”
whispered the frog. 

And the
elephant kept on splashing. 

“Be still,”
the frog said again.

 And this time the elephant was so tired of
fighting and splashing, that he stopped and said, “What did you say?” 

“Be still,”
repeated the frog. 

“Be
still?  What good will that do?” yelled
the elephant. “Don’t you understand I’ve lost the tastiest stick in the whole
jungle?  How can you expect me to be
still? I’ve got to find it!”

“Now
breathe,” said the frog. 

“Breathe?!  I am breathing,” yelled the elephant. 

“Breath in
slowly and deeply,” said the frog, “breathe in the stillness of the mountains.”

And whole
time the elephant stood there talking with the frog, learning to breathe, what
was happening to the water of the pond? 
The mud and the dirt were settling in the stillness. 

And then the
frog said, “Now look down.” 

And when the
elephant looked down, there was the stick! 
The elephant was so happy.  He
reached down and wrapped the end of his trunk around that stick and pulled it
out and started munching again.

*************************

Ever lose
your patience?  Your temper?  Your perspective?  Hope? 
Treasure this story in your heart and open it up whenever you need some
comfort and direction.  Sometimes the
best thing we can do is to be still and watch as everything settles into
calmness and clarity around us; the right answer comes; we find what we thought
was lost.  Sometimes the situation requires
action rather than stillness, and so we act—but from a place of stillness.  Either way—in stillness or in action–breathe—always
breathe…slowly, consciously, fully.  The
more oxygen you get to your brain the better.  And sometimes
the direction we need in the most frantic of times comes as a whisper.  Lastly, sometimes the wisdom we need comes
from unlikely sources.  Be open to the
teachers around you.

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog