Standing Tiger on a Nail

Ever since Standing Tiger started school as a cub, he dreamed of being like the other tigers in his class and having them like him. It didn’t take long for these cubs to notice that he was different, but that shouldn’t stop him from making friends, should it? He was facing a difficult challenge of making friends probably because he was spending so much time trying to stand on the head of an eight-penny nail. Now the head of an eight-penny nail is smaller than the fingernail on your little finger so you can understand how difficult this could be. 


His progress was slow, but he didn’t get discouraged, and he didn’t quit. Every day he spent his entire recess and lunch hours on the playground practicing. After school he spent as much time as he could working on  this goal. He didn’t spend much time studying or doing his chores and his passion was frustrating his parents, teachers, friends, and sometimes even himself. But he had a goal, and he knew that he had two choices: either keep practicing or give up and quit. 
 

When he first started trying to stand on an eight-penny nail his friends encouraged him and supported him and wanted him to succeed but as time went on their attitudes began to slowly change. They started thinking he was weird and foolish. After all, tigers aren’t supposed to stand on the head of a nail. His tiger classmates were certain that they knew what normal tiger behavior was like and when he wanted to do his thing, they didn’t know how to handle it. Eventually they decided that rather than accepting him for who he was they would pressure him into being like them. So instead of understanding why he was trying to stand on a nail they gave him their version of tiger treatment for socially different tigers.


This treatment known as peer pressure was a social isolation technique adopted by those who believe that they are better than other tigers and if he wanted to be accepted, he had to become like them. This treatment included such things as: a mean sinister tiger laugh with a touch of a growl and threatening teeth; calling him names that were mean and ugly; labeling as weird because he was different; and finally, refusing to play with him because after all nobody wants to be seen playing with a tiger who stands on the head of a nail. These tigers rationalized their cruel treatment by asking themselves, “Why would they want to risk humiliation, and embarrassment, to be seen with such a tiger?” 


These tigers didn’t like tigers who were different. They wanted every tiger to be the same and didn’t want diversity. Standing Tiger always wondered why he couldn’t be accepted and still do his thing. Why couldn’t everyone be accepted for who they were? Why was being different so wrong? What makes one tiger acceptable while another tiger is unacceptable? Who makes these decisions?


Finally, Standing Tiger tried to ignore the laughter and cruelty, but it was hard. Eventually , he did learn to stand on the head of an eight-penny nail and before long he was able to do many other things, things that his tiger classmates didn’t notice because they didn’t want to accept him or his unusual talents and abilities. Soon they started calling him Standing Tiger on a Nail.


He developed amazing skills that his narrow-minded classmates could not accept. For example, he could scratch his ear with his tail, pick up three rocks and juggle them, sing songs backwards, and talk to the worms, while standing with one paw on the head of his eight-penny nail. 


Now these talents and abilities don’t seem like they are important or practical, but he was not given the chance to be himself. Why, because he was different which translates into being strange. But was he really? He may have been a little bit different based on the beliefs and actions of the other tigers but look at what he was able to accomplish.


He was able to do things the other tigers couldn’t do, even though they didn’t value or appreciate his talents. You see this tiger had some amazing abilities such as making other tigers laugh, helping them feel good about themselves, befriending the less fortunate, and perhaps the most important of all was his ability to accept other tigers for who they were without judgment. If his classmates had only taken a moment to get to know and understand him, they would have realized that his real talents were not standing on a nail but making other tigers happy. 


He was creative and he wanted to use his ability to help tigers laugh, forget their troubles and view life from a different perspective. He believed that he could transcend his own personal challenges and make the jungle a better place.  


Standing Tiger wanted to help others by using the talents that he had developed over the years. Deep inside he had a secret desire to become a clown in the Jungle Brothers Circus and help tigers forget their troubles if only for a couple of hours. 


The reality of Standing Tiger’s quest for clown hood depended on one basic quality that he developed as he worked hard to obtain his skill of standing on the head of an eight-penny nail. The secret to achieving his goal of starring in the Jungle Brothers Circus was his belief and confidence in himself that he could do something that was difficult which had never been done before. 


Like  Standing Tiger all of us face challenges that can stop us from progressing. These challenges could be anything causing life struggles such as chronic challenges like Tourette syndrome, diabetes, hearing loss, depression, poverty, abusive parents, bullying, etc. We all have a choice, we can be one of those tigers that makes fun of people, or we can be the one who stands up and encourages and supports others as they face their journey.



Happy Failing Forward,