Knowing yourself sounds like a good idea
but it can be hard to see quite why it should matter so much
there are some clues in an old story about a lion with a sore paw
a traditional folktale known as Androcles and the Lion
the earliest version of the story comes from the ancient Roman philosopher Aulus Gellius
and has been adapted and retold ever since
one version goes like this
once long ago there was a Barbary lion nine feet long with a splendid dark mane
who lived in a forested foothills of the Atlas mountains in what is today Algeria
usually the lion kept far from human settlements but one year in spring
he started approaching the villages at night roaring and snarling menacingly in the dark
the villagers were terrified
they put extra guards on the gates and sent out heavily armed hunting parties to try to kill him
It happened around this time that a shepherd boy named Androcles
followed his sheep far into the high mountain pastures
one cold evening he sought shelter in a cave
he had just lit a candle and was setting his blanket on the ground
when to his horror he saw the ferocious beast staring at him
at first he was terrified the lion looked as if it might be about to pounce on him and rip him to pieces
but Androcles notice something
there was a thorn deeply embedded in one of the lion’s front paws
and a huge tear was running down his noble face
the creature wasn’t murderous it was in agony
so instead of trying to flee or defend himself with his dagger
the boy’s fear changed to pity
Androcles approached the lion stroked his mane and then gently and reassuringly extracted the thorn from the paw
and wrapped it in a strip of cloth torn from his own blanket
the lion licked the boy’s hand and became his friend
many years later Androcles got into trouble with the authorities
he was shipped to Rome taken to the Colosseum
and thrown before a lion to be devoured in public
for the pleasure of the people and the emperor
but when the lion saw Androcles he became quiet
and went forward and lowered his head in a bow
it was the same Barbary lion Androcles had taken pity on as a boy
the emperor pardoned Androcles and he and his lion lived together in Rome
and they used to go for walks together through the streets
with the lion peaceable and contented
led only on a slender leash
the fable can be usefully be read as an allegory about self-knowledge
the lion is in terrible pain but has no capacity to understand what is hurting him exactly
and how he might put it right
in his blind distress he acts in horrifically aggressive and threatening ways
he makes blood-curdling noises and frightens everyone
the lion is all of us when we lack insight into our own distress
the thorn is a troubling, maddening element of our inner lives
a fear
a biting worry
a regret
a sense of guilt
a feeling of humiliation
a strained hope
or agonized disappointment
that rumbles away powerfully
but just out of range of our standard view of ourselves
but there’s potentially another Androcles-like side of us
able calmly to see past the fury to what the problem really is
and then calm our untargeted anger and help us find constructive solutions
however it’s not always easy
some of the following can happen when we try to locate the stubborn thorn
we make the wrong diagnosis of what’s upsetting us
we’re in no doubt we’re in pain but we don’t correctly attribute the source of the distress
we lash out innocents usually the kindest people around us
perhaps we start to get tetchy around our partners
we accuse them of being dull and obsessed with domestic trivia
and not as much fun as they once were
but the thorn might in fact lie elsewhere entirely
maybe there’s a lovely new colleague at work
and awkwardly we’ve developed a sort of crush on them
we don’t even admit to ourselves that something so unexpected and challenging might be upsetting us
we don’t know where to look for the thorn but others close to us who are kind, forgiving
and easy targets for our frustration
end up taking the blame nevertheless
another option is that we try to ignore the pain
when the paw hurts too much in ways we don’t grasp
it’s tempting to try to numb our distress
we search out an anesthetic that can reduce the discomfort but fails to address it’s causes
we might take to drinking
playing nonstop game of solitaire
watching porn
or working obsessively
the thorn is still firmly lodged in place
but we notice it less and yet the numbing move
extracts a high price
it eats away at our time
undermines our self respect
or leads to debilitating symptoms
we might not be able to sleep
insomnia often being traceable to the turbulent impact of issues
we haven’t paid proper attention to during the day
or finally we might apply the wrong medicine
we might come up with unfounded confused schemes to solve a pain we don't understand
we may take to blaming our partner
the city we live in
the government
or our employer
rifling through a cabinet of cures
we might pick a journey to the desert
or a quick divorce
we decide to quit our jobs
or sack someone
it can be hard not to inflict severe pain on ourselves or others when we don’t have
an accurate handle on our agonies
fortunately there’s almost always information to hand about what is really wrong
our stream of consciousness
contains a reservoir of muddled hints
about our woes
which need to be gathered and decoded
the art of living is to a large measure dependent on an ability to locate our thorns accurately and in good time
so that we will not forever be condemned to suffer our symptoms
and terrify strangers with our roars