In our day-to-day lives, it is remarkably easy to project an image of bold curiosity, mapping out grand ambitions and pursuing great challenges. This sharp and witty ancient fable pulls back the curtain on our shared human tendencies, serving as a brilliant mirror—quietly asking whether we possess the genuine courage to face the very things we claim to be looking for.
A hunter, not very bold, was searching for the tracks of a lion.
He asked a man felling oaks in the forest if he had seen any marks of his footsteps or knew where his lair was.
“I will,” said the man, “at once show you the lion himself.”
The hunter, turning very pale and chattering with his teeth from fear, replied,
“No, thank you. I did not ask that; it is his track only I am in search of, not the lion himself.”
Aesop’s fables
It is a natural human tendency to look for “footprints” before we take a big leap. When we dream of starting a new routine, learning a skill, or making a meaningful life change, gathering information feels safe and comforting. We naturally want to research the perfect plan or wait for the ideal moment, gently convincing ourselves that preparation is the same thing as progress. It isn’t a flaw at all; it’s just our mind’s clever, protective way of keeping us safe in our comfort zone, sheltering us from the vulnerable, slightly scary risk of actually diving in.
Gently moving past this cycle of overthinking simply comes down to how we choose to approach that edge of uncertainty. We can either wait until we feel entirely ready—which can sometimes mean waiting forever—or we can choose to step forward with just enough insight to get started, trusting our own resilience to figure out the rest along the way. At some point, the comforting gather of data naturally gives way to a moment of quiet bravery, where we stop tracking the path to the future and finally decide to see where the first step takes us.
Image: A postage stamp issued by the Republic of Niger in 1998 depicting the African lion. Courtesy Animals on Stamps WordPress blog.
This is one among Aesop’s fables, a collection of tales from the Greek story-teller, Aesop. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece. He was a keen observer of both animals and people. Most of the characters in his stories are animals, some of which take on human characteristic and are personified in ways of speech and emotions. However, the majority of his characters retain their animalistic qualities; tortoise are slow, hares are quick, tigers eat bird, etc. Aesop uses these qualities and natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. Each fable has an accompanying moral to be learned from the tale.