When we think of a predator, we think of lions and wolves. Cattle and other vegetarians tend to be consigned to their role as prey.

The Cape buffalo turns that notion on its head. It's called Black Death for a very good reason. When it knows it's being hunted, it's likely to circle around and charge its tormentor from an unexpected angle. Cape buffalo are responsible for more game hunters' deaths than any other animal in Africa.

It attacks the attacker.

I learned early on that doing nothing insured continued pain. There was a bully in my school who had made me his preferred target. Instead of continuing to hunker down, I had to learn not just to keep a stiff upper lip, which my mother advised me to do, but to approach and challenge the thing (person, in my case) making my life miserable. It took a while to get to that point, but once I did, life changed for me. Dramatically.

Taking action is the magic ingredient of any fulfilled dream.

In any endeavor, there is cause, and there is effect. "Be the cause" became my mantra. And, while as a creative, introversion is a large part of my life, it enabled me to create a good list of credits as an actor and win awards as an educator. Both of those required interaction that's sometimes deep, meaning that my defense mechanisms had to be shut off. It's exhausting, as all introverts and many creatives know, but the rewards are immense. The lives of other people are touched when an introvert engages.

So, while the Cape buffalo is big and aggressive, it also teaches an important lesson (as nature tends to do):

"Be the cause, not the effect."

Create things that bring goodness, truth, and beauty to the world, and take action to place it in front of a world that desperately needs that message.

Let me know when you do. I want to cheer you on!

© 2020 by Stephen D. Wedan