The Story of Ferdinand

Ferdinand ran to the middle of the ring and everyone shouted and clapped because they thought he was going to fight fiercely and butt and snort and stick his horns around.

But not Ferdinand.

When he got to the middle of the ring he saw the flowers in all the lovely ladies' hair and he just sat down quietly and smelled.

He wouldn't fight and be fierce no matter what they did.  He just sat and smelled...

So they had to take Ferdinand home.

And for all I know he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly.

He is very happy.

So no matter what everyone thought Ferdinand was "supposed" to do or "should" do... even despite what they tried in desperation to get him to do...  none of it was any matter to what Ferdinand wanted to do.  For what he knew to himself to be his ultimate point of joy and happiness was not in their view of him or their plan for what would make him awesome or amazing or "El Toro Ferroz Ferdinando!"  What Ferdinand knew then was what he had always known for himself: only his happiness mattered, and dash it all if everyone else ended up in tears trying to push him in another direction.

Find what makes you happy, your point of joy, find your love... and live in that love without regard to the whole world and their desperate and dire attempts to conform you to their ideal of how you should be happy.

Be a little less like how "they" say you should be and be a little more like Ferdinand...