I'm sure we're all familiar with everyone's favorite "silly, willy, nilly old bear," Winnie the Pooh (if you aren't, please, for the love of God, contact me, and I will assist you in correcting this clear lapse in your childhood). Guys, can we just talk about how awesomely zen Eeyore is?
Eeyore is usually perceived as depressed, but I really don't think that's true. In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. Hear me out.* Eeyore rarely actually complains about his life. Not ever, really. I mean, think about it. Comments on his misfortunes, yes, but does he ever really complain about them? Not that I can recall. He knows where things stand, and regardless of whether or not they are in his favor, he's accepted them. Which is not to say he's not happy when things do go his way. Of course he is. He's not a robot. But he's also happy when his friends are more fortunate than he. And when they aren't, he goes out of his way to help them. Consider, for example, when Owl's house falls down. Despite his own inability to have a decent house, he spends days scouring the Hundred Acre Wood for a house that Owl can live in, even through a downpour that floods the entire Wood. He wants his friends to be as happy as he is.
One of the moments that most clearly demonstrates this, for me, appears in "Pooh's Grand Adventure," when they reach the clearing, and Piglet is befriended by a delightful family of butterflies. Despite their penchant for destroying his house, he clearly would like his own family of butterfly friends, but he doesn't actually seem to be upset about it. He's accepted his place in their world, and he knows where he stands. "Some Piglets have it," he says, "Some Donkeys don't." Those words, to me, say more than the writers could probably have imagined. "Some Donkeys don't." Not, "Some Donkeys should try harder." Not, "Some Donkeys wish they had everything their friends have." Not even, "Some Donkeys should have it," or "will have it someday." A simple, mellow, "don't." He doesn't have "it," and he doesn't want or need it. He's satisfied with himself as he is.
How awesome is that? I mean, how often do we go about wishing our lives were better, or wanting something a friend or neighbor has? How many of us can honestly say we're satisfied with our place in the world? Not many, I'm sure. So, in my year of "relinquishing," I'm making it a goal to be more like Eeyore. To be satisfied with myself as I am, and to stop needing "more" to be "happy." To recognize that not everyone can be the most fortunate, and that I'm lucky to have what I do. Sometimes you're the Piglet, and sometimes you're the Donkey. And some Donkeys don't.
~Happy Hippie Herbivore
*Note: examples here are taken from the Disney movies. Eeyore doesn't really seem to feature as prominently in the books, and much of the dialogue is different.
