Out of Place

Out of place is something we have all felt. Do you ever imagine animals feeling out of place amongst other animals? For instance, how would a dog and cat get along, or a cat and a mouse? Most of the time we think of these animals as clashing with each other, but occasionally there are circumstances where two animals who should be less than friendly with each other become family.

The life of a shark is crazy, think of being looked at as an enemy, something to fear. One shark just wanted a family and in finding this family he made more than a few friends. Meet Jingo, Jingo was born and not long after separated from his mother, which isn’t out of the ordinary because sharks are born with the instinct to hunt. Jingo on the other hand was born without this instinct. He just wanted to find a group that would accept him, not think he was a predator.

Being larger than most sea life Jingo was often fled from, today would be the day Jingo met his forever family. As he was swimming, looking for smaller fish he came across a pod of dolphins. Dolphin pods typically scare sharks away because of their numbers, but this was a small pod of only 3 dolphins and they seemed more curious about Jingo than he seemed about them. The dolphins approached Jingo, swimming together closely, more than intrigued by this different animal in front of them. Fear was not there, not for Jingo or the dolphins. Instinct did not kick in, no fight or flight, instead a pure fascination.

From the first time meeting they instantly became like a family. Jingo never knew companionship before, as a shark he was often isolated. He now knew what it was like to be accepted into this pod, having other sea life with him to not only keep him company, but also stick up for him when they needed to as well. The group began to swim together often, not noticing the difference between them, but instead enjoying the time they spent together.

One day Jingo was swimming and came across a rather aggressive group of sharks that were like him, large, with angry eyes and hungry mouths. He knew he should try to steer clear of the area they were hunting in, but he also needed to eat. He stayed back as far as he could and got the scraps of the other sharks food’ Nothing substantial enough to call a real meal. Suddenly he felt like he was being surrounded, they had noticed Jingo and didn’t like him stealing their food, even if it was only the scraps. He began to feel nervous, thinking he was surely going to get shredded by these other sharks, when out of no where he saw not only his dolphin friends, but several more dolphins as well.

They quickly gathered around the sharks that were around Jingo. The dolphins, though not as scary out numbered the sharks and were fierce in protecting their “family member”. Jingo strongly stood his ground as well and eventually they scared the group of sharks off. Family doesn’t always mean you share the same blood; it is more about having someone’s back when they need you. That is a lesson Jingo learned that very day. Only going by the look he would assume the other sharks were his family and friends, but when it came down to it his real family were the dolphins.

We as people should take this as a reminder. Often times we look at family and friends as those who we grew up around, not people of different backgrounds and cultures. If we truly get to know the person and not what is on the outside we would likely have a closer knit “family” than we could have ever imagined. Let’s not fight like dolphins and sharks, but instead embrace our differences and love each other for our inward beauty instead of outward appearances.