I was reading about a woman, a 25 year old single mother actually, who was facing some difficult times after her husband left her….. twice. She referenced, “being the buffalo,” as a story she turned to for inspiration to get through the lonely days that followed. I was naturally curious and upon further investigation, discovered she was referring to a quote given by the first female Cherokee Chief ever, Wilma Mankiller.
” Cows run away from the storm while the buffalo charges toward it – and gets through it quicker. Whenever I’m confronted with a tough challenge, I do not prolong the torment, I become the buffalo.”
Become the buffalo, when I first read the quote I was inspired and empowered-YES become the Buffalo. Sometimes it’s hard to keep it all in perspective, and its good to remind ourselves from time to time to keep our thoughts positive, quotes such as this one by Wilmea Mankiller often do the trick to snap us back to positive. To face our challenges, fears, and difficulties head on is by far one of the hardest and scariest things to do, yet it is often, if not always, the best way to handle them in the end.
The Be the Buffalo quote however, really points to the fact that we indeed have the power to chose how we let difficult situations affect us by how we approach them. Instead of cowering in the corner, charging at our problems, like the buffalo, can be a great tool to get things started in the right direction when we know tough times are ahead. Facing our problems gives us more control over them and although we may not be able to prevent them from coming, they wont sneak up on us as easily and as Wilma Mankiller said, “I do not prolong the torment,” it will reduce the amount of time we will have to deal with the problems if we face them head on. So when you see trouble on the horizon, instead of heading the other way, turn around, put your game face on, and CHARGE!
