I came across this beautiful story, and felt the need to share it with you.

I believe the moral is really profound, highlighting virtues like curiosity and bravery. I hope you like it as much as I do:

 

 

Billy Bixbee was rather surprised, when he woke up one morning and found a dragon in his room. It was a small dragon about the size of a kitten. The dragon wagged its tail happily as Billy patted its head. Billy went downstairs to tell his mother. “There’s no such thing as a dragon!” said Billy’s mother and she said it like she meant it.

Billy went back to his room and began to dress. The dragon came close to Billy and wagged its tail but Billy didn’t pat it. If there’s no such thing as something, then it’s silly to pat it on the head.

Billy washed his hands and face and went down for breakfast. The dragon came along. It was bigger now; almost the size of a dog. Billy sat down at the table. The dragon sat ON the table. This sort of thing was not usually permitted but there wasn’t much Billy’s mum could do about it. She had already said there’s no such thing as a dragon and if there’s no such thing, you can’t tell it to get off the table.

Mother made some pancakes for Billy but the dragon ate them all. Mother made some more but the dragon ate those too. Mother kept making pancakes until she ran out of batter. Billy got only one of them but he said, that’s all he really wanted anyway.

Billy went upstairs to brush his teeth. Mother started clearing the table. The dragon, who was quite as big as mother by now, made himself comfortable on the hall rug and went to sleep. By the time Billy came back downstairs, he had grown so much that he filled the hall. Billy had to go around by the way of the living room to get to his mother. “I didn’t know dragons grew so fast!” said Billy. “There’s no such thing as a dragon!” said Billy’s mother firmly.

Cleaning the downstairs took mother all morning, with the dragon in the way and having to climb in and out of windows to go from room to room. By noon, the dragon filled the house; its head hung out the front door, its tail hung out the back door and there wasn’t a room in the house that didn’t have some part of the dragon in it.

When the dragon awoke from his nap, he was hungry. A bakery truck went by; the smell of fresh bread was too much for the dragon to resist. The dragon ran down the street after the bakery truck. The house went down along; like the shell atop a snail. The mailman was just coming up the path with some mail for the Bixbees, when their house rushed past him and headed down the street. He chased the Bixbees’ house for a few blocks but he couldn’t catch it.

When Mr. Bixbee came home for lunch, the first thing he noticed was that the house was gone. Luckily, one of the neighbors was able to tell him which way it went. Mr. Bixbee got in his car and went looking for the house.

Finally, he saw a house that looked familiar. Billy and Mrs. Bixbee were waving from a window upstairs. Mr. Bixbee climbed over the dragon’s head onto the porch roof and through the upstairs window.

“How did this happen?” Mr. Bixbee asked. “It was the dragon”, said Billy. “There’s no such thing…” his mother started to say. “There IS a dragon; a very BIG one”, Billy insisted as he patted it on its head. The dragon wagged its tail happily.

Then, even faster than it had grown, the dragon started getting smaller. Soon, it was kitten-size again. “I don’t mind dragons this size”, said mother, “Why did it have to grow so BIG?” “I’m not sure”, said Billy, “but I think it just wanted to be noticed.”

 

What do you take from this story?

 

A big one for me is that problems don’t go away just because you ignore them. In fact, if you avoid dealing with them they often become bigger and bigger, until they overshadow everything else that’s good in your life. 

Another takeaway for me is the fact that using your curiosity, and looking at your life with a fresh perspective, can lead to new insights and wisdom.

In summary: the best thing you can do when you discover a little dragon is to be brave, curious and confront it, heads on. 

 

Having been in lockdown for the last few months, you might have started reflecting more on where your life is heading.

 

A good question to ask yourself might be:

Have your values and aspirations changed over the last few years?

If yes, are you brave enough to do something about it?

 

Feel free to reach out to me for support, or if you have any questions about coaching.