“I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head.”
~Chicken Little
Do you always believe that the worst is about to happen? Do you jump to conclusions? Are you often worried and afraid? Do you believe everything you read on the internet or the news?
Then you may have CLS…Chicken Little Syndrome.
Do you remember the story of Chicken Little? It doesn’t have a very happy ending. Maybe you heard it as a child or maybe you’ve told it to your own children.
This is the story to remind you or maybe tell you for the first time:
Chicken Little is walking along when an apple falls on her head. She immediately jumps to a conclusion that “the sky is falling”. She shares this information with everyone she meets along the way, Ducky Lucky, Henny Penny, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey. She infects all the farmyard animals with her fear. They decide to tell the king that the sky is falling. But along the way, they fall in with a sly fox. In the end the fox lures everyone in to a cave to become his supper. In the worse versions of the story, everyone is dinner but in the better ones everyone narrowly escapes being the fox’s dinner.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of the name “Chicken Little” is “one who warns of or predicts calamity, especially without justification”. This goes all the way back to 1898.
This fable exposes our modern culture of fear. In modern times there are so many things to be afraid of! The economy, the environment, our children’s safety, cancer, do we have enough moisture, enough snow, too much heat, antibiotics that are germ-resistant, lunch boxes that are cold enough, immigrants or no social security someday. And don’t forget the world is ending at the end of this year!
So many people are infected with CLS that, if you’re not careful, it’s easy to catch. Just like a cold, you can catch a case of CLS occasionally or you may end up with a chronic case.
Here are the symptoms:
• worried about the future
• fears cloud your mind
• your brain is filled with the chatter of your fear
• the world around you seems chaotic – everyone is caught up in the fear
• doubts make you start playing a what if game
• watching too much media
• safety is utmost on your mind
Many of the fears we have are groundless. Fears can paralyze you. Fear causes one to be unwilling to change. Fear causes you to lost trust. And most of what we fear never comes to pass.
The cure?
1. Positive thinking – Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change! This is my mantra and it works!
2. Use humor and common sense to combat the fear. If you’re smiling and laughing it’s hard to be fearful. And when you’re happy it’s easier to tap into common sense.
3. Everything in moderation. Sometimes we are fearful of eating something that might lead to cancer or heart disease. We end up on the extremes of fads because scientists have a new study about eggs or coffee. You know yourself. Don’t fall for all those studies and be afraid to live life.
4. Stop playing “what if?” This is a dangerous game! What if the plane crashes? What if she’s mad at me? What if my child grows up and does drugs? What if I can’t pay my bills? Most of the “what if” game never comes to pass. Don’t let this consume you.
5. Stop watching negative media. I’m not asking you to have your head in the sand. I’m asking you not to watch negative news. Try the Happy News! Be inspired by something happy instead of negative.
6. Be an optimist. Things are usually not as bad as our mind makes them out to be. Wait until morning to be an optimist. Sometimes things seem worse at night.
7. Live in the moment. Try a short meditation visualization. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Visualize a river. Imagine putting all your fearful thoughts into the river and watching them go, like a leaves, down the stream.
So it’s time to change and rewrite the story of Chicken Little. The title of the new story could be:
Carpe Diem! Carpe Diem!
or When Life Drops Apples On Your Head, Make Apple Pie
And the new story could be something like this:
An apple falls on Chicken Little’s head. She first looks up to see if the sky is falling. Instead of jumping to conclusions, she doesn’t panic but takes a closer look. She looks down and realizes that what fell on her head is actually a delicious treat. She decides to make apple pie and invites all her friends over.
And what about the fox? Why is it that the smart fox is always portrayed as the bad guy?
She invites the fox because a smart guy who is spontaneous and always seizes the moment should be a friend not an enemy.
A good time is had by all. In fact, Chicken Little starts going outside more hoping that more and different treats fall out of the sky for her.
So, like Chicken Little, rewrite your own fable of fear into a beautiful one of seizing the moment and being an optimist.
“When writing the story of your Life, make sure you don’t end up with a manuscript full of shoulda’s, coulda’s and woulda’s. Fill your pages instead with, took a chance, went for it and I did it!”
~ via Choose Happiness!
Photo credit: http://www.bbmlive.com
Like what you’ve read and want the ZEN MAMA’S BLOG delivered to your email address? I promise I won’t share your email!!
