Have you ever found yourself running from a fire-breathing dragon only to come to the top of a high cliff?

(Of course you have.) You have two choices…jumping the cliff or surrendering to the dragon.

Imagine the cliff is a destructive pattern in your life. The dragon represents the feelings you don’t want to face.

Looking down, the water is choppy and looks frigid…the drop is long. Its dark, its deep, there are rocks and crags and likely predators. There is no lifeboat in sight and shore is a ways off. But hey, you can dog paddle, making it to shore eventually.

And eventually, the dragon sniffs you out again.

You run and run, again coming to the cliff’s edge…

What if you put on the protective armor of God and faced the dragon? What if you turned around and surrendered? What if you paid attention to this animal? What if the dragon is only chasing and roaring because it wants…a friend? A mother? Love? Maybe it wants to feel valued, or important. Maybe the dragon is wounded and is crying out for care. Maybe it thinks you are playing hide and seek! Maybe your dragon isn’t this:

but this:

Maybe if you sat and played nice with your dragon, you’d find you didn’t have to run and jump anymore…

—

Elephant Spirituality is now on twitter… Click here to follow us!

Elephant Spirituality is an example of Elephant Journal’s commitment to the Mindful Life. We look to provide a fresh and practical perspective on traditional spirituality. If you would like to follow Elephant Spirituality on FaceBook click here and become a fan of Elephant Spirituality by clicking the “Like” tab at the top of the page.