🎧 Bedtime Story Podcast #10
Audio version:
Lionel The Lazy Lion
Lionel was called a lazy lion, not because he didn’t do things, but because he didn’t worry.
Lionel lived in a crazy world. The lions he was surrounded by lived and ate very well, but many of them were always worrying.
“Where will our meal next come from?” the lions would often gather together and worry about. “What will happen in our future? What if we won’t have enough? Lionel, come and join us to discuss this!”
Lionel would lie on his back and do nothing. When the time would come for him to hunt and gather food, he would, but until then, he was unworried.
The other lions called him lazy because they worked hard on their worries. Their worries and fears took huge amounts of energy from their minds all day, so that when it was actually time to take action, they were often exhausted.
When they would see food on the horizon, Lionel could already smell it. The other lions would begin to see it. “There is food over there that we must catch,” they would say. “Lionel, all of us were awake all night worrying about what would happen today, if any food would come, and now we are too tired to run and hunt. You must do it for us!”
And Lionel would. He would catch so much food with so much energy and vigour, that he always provided an abundance for his pride of lions. And all without worry.
A young lion once asked him why he chose to lie around all day and sleep all night without a care in the world, and Lionel kept his eyes closed as he answered the young one.
“Everything always works out well for me”, Lionel said as he lay on his back. “This is what I believe, and so this is what happens. The others believe they might not be able to catch their own food. Their belief becomes real – they worry themselves to the point of exhaustion, and then they must rely on me to catch their food. Your beliefs shape your life. Do not let your life shape your beliefs.”
Lionel spent every day in a very calm state of bliss, and every night he would repeat to himself:
“All is well with me, all is well with me,
I am safe, I am happy, all is well with me.
Everything is working out, all is for my best,
And now that night is falling, I will enjoy my rest.”
And as time went by, more and more of the younger lions began to spend time with Lionel, and less time with the worrying crowd. Soon they were a pride of lions that were strong and calm and fierce when they needed to be, and none of them ever worried about anything. Every night they repeated Lionel’s words to themselves, until the words became their own:
“All is well with me, all is well with me,
I am safe, I am happy, all is well with me.
Everything is working out, all is for my best,
And now that night is falling, I will enjoy my rest.”
Adam Oakley Books 