A short story on Intelligence Vs Common sense

Today, I am pleased to share with you all a simple and a powerful story that was shared with me by a friend of mine. It seemed so fascinating to me that I just couldn’t rest without sharing it with you all. When I heard this story, first I liked it from the surface of it, but when I took a deep dive into it and spend a considerable amount of time reflecting on it, I discovered some very powerful insights. Those insights led me to add some more wisdom in myself and the work ethics in practice. So, I thought, why not share this story ?

Once upon a time there was a fox and a rabbit talking in a forest. They both were aware of the fact that the tiger is hunting down animals for his meal.

Fox : Hey rabbit man! How are you doing ?

Rabbit : Are you seriously asking me THIS question in the middle of this apocalypse ?

Fox : Yeah, why what happened ? You look terrified. Is all good?

Rabbit : I can’t believe that you are at such an ease with the current situation. Don’t you know that the tiger is hunting down each and every animal in his way because of his unfulfilling appetite disorder? And here you are wondering that why I am terrified. That’s horrendous. Wake up and take a whiff of reality Mr. Fox

Fox : Yeah… Whatever !

(And the fox gave his carefree look, which in turn made the rabbit angrier and concerned for Fox because of their years of friendship )

Rabbit : Hey You! Mr. Smart-know-it-all-chilled man ! Tell me one thing, what will you do if the tiger approaches you ?

Fox : Oh ! Am so smart ! I knew this question would be coming to me very soon. Ha-ha. You are asking me that if I have any backup plans or not. Right ?

Rabbit : Yes! Right, do you have any ? Because I myself have only one backup i.e. my burrow. If the tiger comes, I’ll straightaway jump into my burrow. What will you do in such a situation ?

Fox : Ah me ? Dude, I have many options, chill man! Like I can hide in that deep tunnel where the tiger couldn’t enter. Or I can vanish myself into that dark forest where I can easily outrun him or I can climb a tree. Don’t you remember that last month I was awarded for being “The best tree climbing fox” in the whole forest? Huh ! I ain’t scared of him.

And so the rabbit was about to say that when BANG ! With a big growl, the big cat came in. Standing there with the majestic personality, strong masculine body and fierceness in  eyes ready to grab and eat the two fellows standing in front of him. And as the tiger sprinted towards the rabbit, he quickly went to the burrow and hid completely.

But the fox couldn’t think in the heat of that moment and hurriedly ran to the forest. The tiger then led the fox to the deep forest. Fox was trapped and killed by the tiger.

This story might be a regular story for you all, but I saw some deeply hibernating wisdom in it. The fox used to think that the three ways which were there in its kitty would be essential and come handy in the emergency but due to its lack of common sense, the fox couldn’t decide which one should be chosen.

The lesson here is indecisiveness on the part of the fox. We are often presented with such a choice in our day to day lives. Intelligence is a plus point but common sense is a necessity for achieving success in any endeavor.

Just like the fox, many of us keep on wondering what to do, how to do and when to take an action in times of crisis or challenges and all this wondering eats up so much time that no time is left for thinking straight. As a result, we react in the most sudden way that is usually triggered by a fight or flight impulse.

Whereas, on the other side, there are a few niche people a.k.a the A Players who apply the SWOT analysis (an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) beforehand and applying the strategy as the challenge arises. Now this is called as common sense.

As very much obvious, you must be having a thought that I am encouraging you to have the quality the rabbit displayed. But humbly, no. I am here again focusing on one of my favorite words :- Balance.

Balance out the fox with the rabbit. Have the cunningness of the fox and the speed of the rabbit. Have that common sense of rabbit and ability to discover more than one options like the fox. Because we are not fox or rabbit and the problems/ challenges that we face are bigger than the problem of a chasing tiger !

So in short :-

1)    Balance your mind with your heart

2)    Have more options and clarity of their use

Set yourself to sail in the ocean of uncertainty but be ready with your oxygen tanks and lifeboats. Where oxygen tanks are your common sense and lifeboats are those different options available.

Get Out !

Display Courage !

Have Common sense and Intelligence… so that you are just undefeatable !

Till next time…

#StayMotivated #StayExcited #StayHappy