I know several of us, especially those who live in or around Nairobi, have had a chance to visit the animal orphanage, situated 7 kms from the city center and situated in the sprawling Nairobi national park which in the world, is the only national park situated next to a city. For those not in the know, this orphanage houses and takes care of injured animals or the young ones whose mothers have died either through natural causes or poaching.
These animals are fed within their enclosures. One thing that I learnt over the course of my visit was that the carnivorous animals, unlike their herbivore counterparts, are not fed daily. As is natural, food for carnivorous is not easily available and they have to hunt for it. Many may not know this but when in the wild, these species can go for even two days without food. So when enclosed inside their cages, they entirely depend on the food given to them, by their keepers. These keepers know all about the situations in the jungle so they try as much as possible, to give an almost similar kind of atmosphere and treatment as the one the animals would experience when in the wild. The keepers control the amount of food they give them for two reasons:
- To avoid rendering their hunting skills dormant in preparation for their eventual return to the wild;
- To avoid obesity creeping in. As we have learnt above, these animals spend most of the time resting so most of the food they eat will simply be stored as fat.
I want to bring this now home to us human beings. It’s a fact that the world we are living in, is changing at a very fast rate both socially, technologically, and even economically. The things which were in vogue two years ago are now almost obsolete. It’s imperative that the only way to remain relevant is to keep updating and upgrading ourselves. We cannot bank on yesterday’s expertise because it may not even apply today.
We need to keep learning and upgrading to keep up with the advances happening in and around us. He who lives in the past, has no life and their main dish is regret. Don’t be found amongst them. Comfort and complacency breeds obesity, obesity of the body and obesity of the mind. This is a condition that we should avoid as much as possible because once in, to get out will be the toughest, costly and the most challenging thing. Remember this saying that: “Comfort zone is a very good place but nothing grows there. ” Author unknown. It is not possible to grow or develop in comfort. For example, muscles need regular exercise to remain strong. By the same token, our minds and ultimately our lives, will only grow if we keep exercising them. Get out of your comfort zone and join in the challenging but enjoyable lane called Life. To read more posts by Mwangi, click HERE
