Ror is a strong bear. He is no longer a baby bear – not for some years. He is liked and admired (many times feared) by all the other animals around him. It is not because of his posture (although his posture is quite impressive). It is because of his principles. Yes, he is a bear who has a clear set of values and he never loses them.
But values are not black and white – and most of us have different definitions of what it means to be “fair” or “friend” or “valuable”.
Ror has his own definitions, of course. Sometimes, it is easy for him to explain why his values are important – and the rest of the animals understand what he means. And appreciate this about him.
Other times, however, it is not so clear. Especially because it is quite impossible to have a general definition for words like: courage, change, good, bad.
Ror is also a great speaker – he likes to talk about values and principles and changing the world for the better. It is a wonder to be around him and hear him talk. However, his ideas do not have a perfect match with anyone else’s. And many times, his friends have warned him that these ideas are pushing them away.
The other animals sometimes get upset, because they also have a definition of “good” – which is not as clear as Ror’s. And because it is not so well-thought, Ror can easily find the weak points in these definitions and highlights them. Which, of course, doesn’t make him a very pleasant conversation partner. Bu Ror knows that conversations shouldn’t be pleasant – we rarely grow due to pleasant conversations. But we often grow during challenging ones. And Ror knows and uses this, even if it brings a risk to keep other animals apart.
There is a small sparrow which lives in the woods, in a strange way (we all know that sparrows like to live near villages, and create their nests around a human house). However, Dhalia lives in the woods – and she is a friend of Ror. She likes to hear him talk about all kind of subjects that interest him (and boy oh boy, are his interests diverse..). Ror helps her have a deeper understanding of the world around them – and she started to ask herself important questions “what does she want in life” and “what kind of sparrow does she want to be” and “what is important for her”.
This is a very very big question: what is important for us. It gives an answer which is not perfect, and which can change in time. And is very confusing, in many ways.
For example, friends are important to Dhalia. And she cares a lot about the animals around her. For Ror, doing things is more important – the results at the end.
And this is where the two friends do not match – everyone has such points. And it only dependa on us how much we let them interfere in our relationships with the others.
Dhalia moved her nest a little further away from the place where Ror hangs out. She was no longer feeling so close to him. She though that he is lonesome, and was feeling a bit bad to move away from her friend. Dhalia was wondering if Ror is ok with not having as many friends. Actually, the other animals were thinking the same.
But you see, we are all different – and even though we know this, we still think about the others, taking into account just our point of view. And it is true, Ror didn’t have as many friends – but he had something even bigger: he had values. And even though he could not speak to his values the same way he spoke to his friends, and he could not ask his values to help him with something the same way he asked his friends – his values gave his something a lot more important: they gave him balance. And by having a balance, he was happy. The real happiness.
Daniela Borontiș 