Be the Buffalo: Overcoming Your Fears

Did you ever think that an animal such as a cow or a buffalo could teach you something about fear and the success of overcoming it? If you’ve never heard of how cows and buffalos handle storms (life’s challenges), you’ll want to read this. And if you’re someone who has fears that stop you from moving forward or fears and anxieties that cause you to run away from your problems, you will want to keep reading.

When a storm rolls in, cows sense the storm coming in from the west and so they begin to move east. Cows, not being the fastest of animals, often do not outrun the storm. Instead, the storm catches up to them and the cows run along with the storm. Running with the storm maximizes the amount of stress, pain, frustration, and time that the cows experience. Seems silly to do that right?

Well, humans aren’t much different. Often times, we spend so much mental energy and sometimes physical energy trying to avoid the inevitable life changes and challenges that occur. For instance, those who are in debt often try and find ways around paying off bills. People who are unhappy in their relationships spend more time avoiding having hard, yet meaningful conversations necessary to fix the relationship. Procrastinators realize that problems that are procrastinated on only become bigger and amplified.

Waiting or running with the storm will make it worse.

Buffalos, on the other hand, approach storms differently. As buffalo sense the storm rolling in, they don’t turn away from it. Guess what they do? They run right towards it! They charge at it.

By running directly toward the storm, they run through it. This minimizes the amount of time, pain, frustration, and stress they experience from that storm.

We could learn a life lesson from these buffalo: don’t avoid the storm, run towards it, get through it and be done with it. Procrastination or avoidance will only prolong your stress or suffering.

You see, we all have hardships and challenges in life. Maybe you’re stressed in a relationship, dealing with financial concerns, or struggling in a health battle. We don’t get to choose when these storms show up or how they show up but we do have a choice: how we respond to those storms.

So next time you are faced with a challenge, what are you going to choose? Will you be the cow or the buffalo?