I was sitting on the beach this afternoon watching the waves roll in and out. I was just taking in the sights and sounds, relaxing and breathing in the salt air.
At one point, I noticed a sea gull standing at the edge of the water. It wasn’t doing anything – or so I thought. It seemed to be just standing there taking a break. Suddenly, it spotted something as the wave rolled out and made a quick leap toward the water. Apparently, the waves brought in a mollusk and the seagull grabbed it.
For 10 or 15 minutes, I sat and watched the gull repeat the same strategy many times. Stand, observe, wait patiently and take action when the timing is just right.
Meanwhile, there were other gulls nearby. They appeared to be taking another method of getting their food. They would fly up and down the shoreline apparently looking for mollusks. In the time I saw these gulls fly by combing the shoreline, the one standing on the shore had grabbed half a dozen pieces of food.
It occurred to me that as humans we can be like the fast moving gulls. There is always the gull who’s out looking for a new and easier way. That gull covers miles and miles looking for food
In our impatience for the end result, we fly from one project to another and another, spreading ourselves too thin. However, if we are patient and pick something and stick with it, we’ll do much better than jumping ship every time we think we see a tempting morsel on the horizon
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Nice timing, I was contemplating my need to increase my “stick-to-it-ness” this morning on a personal goal