A lion once tried to convince a mountain goat to come down off the barren crags and enjoy the sweet, fertile life of the green pastures. The mountain goat, however, was not easily convinced. In fact, according to the fifth century poet Avianus, the goat merely shook his head and said, “I cannot trust a lean advisor.”
That the goat could not trust a “lean advisor” meant that he could not trust a desperate creature. Although it might be difficult to imagine at first how this very old story might relate to you in the present day, the reality is, that it most certainly does.
Consider the people to whom you turn for guidance. Ask yourself in what ways they might be desperate. Are they desperate for money? For attention? To be liked? Desperation comes in many forms, and if we’re not aware of the ways in which people approach us out of desperation, we are likely to come off our proverbial barren crags right into their hungry jaws.
For example, consider the ways in which someone who is desperate for money might try to convince you that you need something that you know you don’t need. Think about the ways in which someone who desperately wants your attention might try to elicit attention from you: Might that person play the victim to draw you in? Might that person play the role of angry accuser to pull you in through guilt?
And what about the person who is desperate to be liked? In what ways might that person try to convince you of the greener pastures closer to him or her? Might that person try to simply say the things you want to hear and do the things he or she believes you want, all with the desperate goal of being liked in mind?
There are people who are desperate to convince you to believe what they believe, think the way they think, act the way they act, and even feel the way they feel – and to some extent, that’s natural. However, it’s still wise to be mindful of the desperate people in your life, and the ways in which they will, intentionally or not, lead you to misleadingly greener pastures.