The White Tiger - P1

Final P1 turned in :

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jonv_vJM9W3-o34f5XXIUcCaM9X2NqlM3HkhwpSal0U/edit?usp=sharing

The sun is setting on the horizon; I can see the last of the sunlight peaking through the dense trees. As I walk, I can hear the dry snow crunching beneath my heavy paws. The air is so crisp, and even through my thick fur I can still feel the bite of the winter cold. My big wet nose is freezing, yet I have never felt more alive. The snow has covered the brown of my home for weeks now, growing thicker, stronger and colder each minute.  After every step I take I look down at my paw prints and of the prints of my mothers. My paw prints are almost as big as hers. I suddenly remember my very first winter; afraid and fearless of the snow, I soon discovered how natural I felt in the snow, I blended right in.  In the snow filled forest I am always at an advantage. My brothers and sisters may move quicker, think faster, and see clearer than I do but their rustic fur the color of a sunset makes them easier to notice. I know I am not like my siblings. When the snow and ice melts, my mother works extra hard to keep me hidden, she fears I will be taken away. The wintertime is the only time I can run and play and practice hunting, and those rabbits never see me coming! My mother worries that I will get taken away and I may never get a chance to live on my own, to be free. I know there used to be more tigers like us all around, but now we are scarce and I, being born white, am unique.

Very often I feel isolated and unusual. Even though I have such strength and power, I find myself frustrated and scared for my family and for myself. I want to stay at home; I do not want to be taken away from my brothers and sisters. Even though we are soon to go our separate ways I feel so lost and uncomfortable with the thought of being alone and taken away. Things are changing more and more around my home. The places we all used to go to with mother is now gone and empty with just tree stumps. What kind of animal was eating the trees? I hear them roaring in the mornings when we are trying to sleep, the make this black smoke that ruins the entire perfect white of the winter. Everything used to be so quite and serene but now these large animals have come to our home and eating all the trees and chasing all our food away. I am so hungry, mother has been brining less and less food for us each time she goes out to hunt. I know she won’t tell us but I can sense she is worried, frustrated and alarmed. I know I may be young, but I will protect her and my home. I just hope those animals find somewhere else to eat trees if not I might never see my winter wonderland or my family again. 

I often find myself stuck on trying to tackle a difficult situation and I have a very challenging time gaining the strength and willpower to keep my cool. Discovering that my spirit animal is a white tiger, has felt like opening a new door of possibilities in my life. White tigers are very confident and strong. They often cover great distances in a single day and these hunters do not waste time chasing that they cannot catch, so when opportunity knocks they always open the door. With the patience and confidence of a tiger I know I can conquer my obstacles and overcome any stresses that I may face. Since becoming a Longhorn I feel like for the first time in my life I am struggling on reaching my goals even though I know I am working harder than I have. If I learn to by like the white tiger, I will not give up so easily. If I am always giving up, I can never get to the top. A white tiger never gets defeated; they wait and wait and wait with such patience. Their great perseverance and strong determination is what makes them so independent and never give up until they eventually catch their prey.  Like a white tiger, a leader should carry themselves with strength and confidence and should know how to stay calm in any situation. Like a white tigress a leader should also be a loving and caring person who knows how to take advantage of an opportunities, enabling them to adapt to the present situations.

My mind is always thinking and always stressing. Throughout the course of Leadership, Ethics, and Animals, I have learned that animals think in the now like we once used to long ago. As humans we think we are superior to everything and many of us do not realize that we have so much we can learn from animals. We share a deep emotional connection with the animal world and nature. I agree with the author Ted Andrews when he says, “…nature speaks to us if we listen. Every animal has a story to tell.” I have learned to listen and that my spirit animal helps to navigate my life and will help with survival in the modern world Author Stefanie Weiss shares with us that, “This spirit animal will bring you back to the present moment, where life is most potent and numinous, rather than allowing you to dwell in the past or focus relentlessly on the future.”¹ She also mentions that “In China, the tiger is called ‘Lord of the Land animals’ and symbolizes the for directions: white tigers representing the west, symbolizing autumn.”² I find it to be very ironic that the white tiger symbolizes autumn and not winter. Although not all tigers are around snow, the white tiger survives naturally the longest in this environment because of the snow, which makes it easier to camouflage with its surroundings and hunt its prey. In doing some research, I found on Wikipedia.com that the White Tiger represents ancient Chinese astronomy and that a tiger would turn white when it reached 500 years of age and would appear when there was peace throughout the world. The website explains in more detail “Because the color white of the Chinese five elements also represents the west, the white tiger thus became a mythological guardian of the west.”⁴

Although white tigers are beautiful and even larger in size that the orange tigers, they are a product of inbreeding which often is responsible for several deformities that these tigers may have. White tigers do not move as quick, cannot see very clear and are often cross eyed. They have a short life expectancy because of the mutated genes and mainly only found in zoos since there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of being born with the white recessive gene. Through having the white tiger as my spirit animals I have realized I must discover my personal truth and facing things about who I am and coming to terms with how to handle who I am becoming. Although the white tiger may not have all the advantages as a healthy orange tiger, they must have strong inner strength throughout the disability they were born with. This helps me realize that I should never try to be anyone but who I am. There is only one me out there and with confidence I could become a role model to someone else. White tigers are so majestic because they are unique and rare. In life I need to remember to never be afraid to be different and unique. People exemplify uniqueness and although might be afraid at first people are attracted to people that are unique and I must continue to stay strong and never be afraid to stand apart from the group just like my spirit animal.

I know that the white tiger will teach guide me to channel my inner strength and confidence, teach me to stay focused on my goals and passions while showing me that strong persistence and plenty of patience will help me grow into a leader. In my spiritual drum journey, when the white tiger first appeared to me. I was not running from him, rather her walked over to me and I was not afraid. He was coming to help and to correct my flaws and I was more than was wanting to listen and willing to correct.

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Notes

 ¹Stefanie Iris Weiss, Unlocking the Secrets of Animal Companions (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2009), 91.

²Weiss, Unlocking the Secrets of Animal Companions, 91.

³ Ted Andrews, Animal Speak (Woodbury: Llewellyn Publications 2009), 109.

⁴ Wikipedia contributors, “White Tiger (Chinese astonomy),” Wikipidia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tiger_(Chinese_astronomy) (accessed February 25, 2013)