Look Behind You

 

There was a movie that I loved to watch when I was a kid. It told me when to use this phrase look behind you. 

Especially one part that included a bear, a tiger and some vultures. 

 

You can tell that I am talking about the Jungle Book, of course. Original version, if you please. 

 

Think about when the movie jumps ahead to when Baloo the bear is jumping around with Shere Khan the tiger. There is a rumble in the jungle when the vultures get involved with flames as Mowgli is there to help his friend. 

 

‘Look behind you’ they say to the tiger as they all come to help Baloo. 

 

Suddenly, there is a turn of events as the tiger rushes off with a trail of fire behind him. 

 

One of the reasons that I would love this scene is because the vultures would show up at the moment they were needed. 

 

I have seen others around me do this very thing over the years since I watched this movie decades ago. 

 

Swoop in when someone they know is in need of help. 

 

Here is what else I realized about the vultures.

They are always around, somewhere. 

 

Mowgli is able to depend on them when he needs some help because they have told him that they’ll be there. 

 

They are his friends, as unlikely as it may appear to others. 

 

Does it matter to them that the friendship appears unlikely? 

Naw. 

 

They don’t worry about it. 

Folks who are there when you look behind you.

Perhaps there can be times when unlikely friends and folks who are there when you look behind you are a place to be together. 

 

Think about these two things with me. 

 

How often have you looked behind you to see who has been there with you? 

 

Are there other things to see when you do take that time to look behind? 

 

I did both of these things recently and it gave me time to pause, look up, then look all around as I considered these answers. 

 

Let’s bounce along the trail with each other like Baloo dancing with Mowgli. 

 

I have been in a place where I have been able to look behind me consistently for about a year. 

 

Looking at who has been there to be a friend, mentor, family member and even more. 

 

What I saw is that in my reflection are the dozens who have been my friends and swooped in to have my back. 

They have been there.

They have been there to teach and mentor me. 

 

It is as if when I looked behind me, I was able to see a trail of tigers running away and I didn’t even know they had been there because my friends were the ones who took care of me. 

 

Now, to be clear here, my friends are those who I’ve known for 40 years as a younger child, my family who is always near even when I don’t always see them, and the grand mentors who have been in my jungle to teach me with their examples and long chats over lunch. 

Of course, there is my best friend, Brandon, who is behind, beside and near me as I look. 

 

Think about who has been there as you look behind you. 

 

Now, let’s go to what may be seen. 

 

This part brings a smile as I think about what I have seen as I look behind me. 

Now, part of this came as I remembered the movie and the jungle. 

 

There are flowers and a slow flowing river are shown throughout, and I found myself smiling when I saw this decades ago, as well. 

I find myself turning around physically.

These days, I find myself pausing and turning myself around physically so I can see what I may have missed. 

 

Then I see the flowers, 

bright blue sky, 

small buds on the spring trees, 

the rock path leading to an open space, 

snowcapped mountains, 

and the collateral beauty.

 

Both ways of looking behind me have brought me to a space of curiosity to be where I am today with gratitude for all the friends who have come with me.  

 

Will I think about the friends who have been there, like those vultures who helped Mowgli?

 

Yes and I am excited to see what comes next. 

Let’s see what comes together, my friends.