The Beast I am

A couple struggles to have a baby until the wife becomes pregnant. The dog becomes protective of the baby and acts strangely. The couple leaves the baby with the dog and returns to find blood on the cloth and the baby missing. The husband shoots the dog, but they later find the baby alive with a dead snake. The story teaches the importance of not acting in anger and not judging others too quickly. It also emphasizes remembering the good in people instead of focusing on their mistakes. What's up lovely people, this is John and you're listening to the Plath Vibe, the show that keeps you motivated to push through the toughest times. Join me as we break down complex theories, principles and best practices for self-improvement and capacity building. Plath Vibe, spreading positive energy. There lived a hunter and his wife who for many years had struggled to have children of their own. The woman longed to hold the baby in her arms, one she could call her own. They did all that was within their power to actualize their dream. Though hope seemed far away, they never gave up. Returning from an unsuccessful hunt with his beloved dog that he didn't know came, the hunter was met with joy as he saw his wife dancing gracefully to an imaginary tune. She could not control her excitement. Don't you realize any changes in me? She said. Come, feel my breast. Don't they feel heavy? Alas, the gods have seen faith to open my womb to receive a child. That evening, they sat outside in the open fields, gazing into the night sky, admiring the complexity of nature, thinking of a name to give the unborn child. Never had they been this happy. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, so did her belly grow. Before long, the cries of a baby were heard from the compound. Many shared in their joy. For some time, they realized that the dog had become aggressive and overly protective around the baby. It barked throughout the night and scarcely ate anything throughout the day. Like a man, it seemed it was on a spiritual journey, fasting to achieve a purpose. This new behavior made the woman very uncomfortable, but her husband assured her that she was just being paranoid. The baby is deep in her sleep, so we can leave her briefly and watch in the barn, said the woman. The man felt uneasy with the suggestion, but he agreed. After all, the barn was just a few minutes walk from their home. As they returned from the barn, they met a scene that shook them to the bone. The cloth they used to wrap the baby was lying in front of the dog, soaked in blood. The dog looked overly calm, licking off blood from its mouth and face. The baby was not in the room and was nowhere to be found. Raging and weeping, the woman lamented, The dog has eaten my baby. I told you I wasn't comfortable with the dog's behavior, but you ignored me. Now see the calamity that has befallen us. The hunter became so furious that without hesitation, he took out his gun and shot the dog twice in the head. Some few minutes later, they heard the cry of a baby from the bushes. Clearly, this was a familiar sound. They followed the sound keenly to where it was coming from. To their greatest surprise, the baby was wrapped in another cloth and beside it was a huge dead snake. It then became clear to them what really happened. Days prior to the incident, the dog had seen the snake every evening and fought it off when it came around. It became so exhausted in the morning that it had no appetite for food. On that fateful day, the dog fought hard to protect the baby. It dragged the baby from the room to the nearby bushes after it had overpowered the snake. It killed the snake and dragged its body away from the scene. The baby was still sleeping and did so till she woke up crying. It took the couple years to overcome the pain that took hold of their hearts. My dear friends, far too often we all fall into this trap of getting angry and in the heat of the moment doing things that we later regret. The wise man once said that anger builds nothing and destroys everything if only we would find the time and the patience to look through things and do not act in the heat of the moment. There are so many things that we could avoid. Many of us when we hear rumors about us, we get so angry that our reactions rather destroy everything. I tell you there are people in prison that have been sentenced to life that if they had exercised just a little restraint, they would have saved the situation. Recently I heard a story about a man in prison. It was just something simple. Apparently he had gone to a club with his friends. He went there with his girlfriend anyway and in the moment as they were dancing, he excused himself that he was going to get some drinks for them to drink. So when he left, another guy came and was dancing with the girlfriend. As a gentleman, he didn't react. He just relaxed. They played the first music, they were still dancing. Second music, third music, fourth music, they were still dancing. Then the guy began to feel angry. So he approached the young man and said, excuse me, I came with this woman, but I think you have been dancing for quite some time. Well, whether the woman was okay or not, that one is none of my business now. But suffice to say, that's what he told him. Now this guy was a very huge built guy, the one that came with the girlfriend. And the guy that was dancing with the girlfriend was just some tiny small guy. And looking at the size, the small guy was the first person to throw the punch. So in an effort to swerve, the drink that he was holding spilled over. So he also tried to throw a punch. So the smaller guy was now trying to swerve the blow and slipped. When he slipped, he hit his head so hard on the ground that he began to bleed and died. And now the guy was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. This is a typical example of what I'm saying. If he had just exercised a little bit of patience, he wouldn't have found himself in that trouble. Now ask me where the woman is. Till this day, as at the time I heard the story, the woman had never visited him in prison. The woman he thought he was fighting for. Another thing I want us to pick from the story is that we should never be too quick to judge. Before we judge, we should make sure that we have enough details to base our judgment on. Far too often, when we hear of a story or we see anything, we are quick to draw our conclusions and to make judgment. We do not even take the time to understand what really happened. Maybe we could spend some little time to put ourselves in the shoes of that individual. Then we would understand how it really feels like to be in their shoes. I once saw a quote that, if you are not fit to wear my shoe, you are not fit to lace it. I tell you sometimes, even the person's slippers you are not fit to wear, not to talk of being in their shoes. But what do we do? We judge them so harshly that for them, they are so evil that they can't be saved. Far too often, those of us that judge others are ourselves the worst culprit. Because we have not been caught, we think that we are better off than those that have been caught. But our time will also come, no matter what we do. Let us be patient. Patience is a golden rule. Of course, anger is sometimes part of a defense mechanism to protect us from danger. However, you are only a man if you are able to control your emotions when you are angry. The dog had been a very faithful servant to the hunter for a long time but in the heat of the moment, when they had concluded that the dog was responsible for the death of the baby, he had forgotten all the good that the dog had ever done. It so happens to us also. When we hear of the negative stories of people, when somebody offends us, in that moment, we forget all the good things that they have done for us ever. The lesson is that when somebody offends us, instead of basing on the offense or that bad thing in that moment, I would rather suggest that you remember the good things that has ever happened before. Remember the good that the person has done before and maybe when you do that, tempers will calm down. Maybe when you focus on the good side of the person, then we won't be so angry. It's been a wonderful time discussing this with you and as I see, you can go back and listen to the story and pick up some funerals for yourself. Till we meet again, bye.