Some years back, I saw a hyena at the Miami Zoo running alone in circles around its fenced in area. There was a rut from likely countless hours of running the same path. It looked tired, panting, tongue hanging, head drooping, now slowing, now speeding up, but kept going. It seemed to be transferring its instinctual behavior of running the plains, hunting, to its present confines. I felt sad for the fellow’s situation.
Sometimes, that scene seems a parable for my life. Like the confines of my circumstances prevent my natural behavior. I run in circles trying to be what I want to be.