Eat prey, love

Eat prey, love

Don’t assume the pike position.

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A pike and a minnow are in a tank. The pike says, “You man the guys, I’ll drive.”

Nope. Wait. Wrong tank. And wrong story.

A pike and a bunch of minnows are in a tank. The pike says, “Ahhhhh, lunch!”

A researcher outside the tank says, “Not so fast,” while putting a glass divider between the pike and the fish he (or she) normally eats as a steady diet.

Let's call the pike “Spike” and each of the minnows “Minnie.”

Spike sets tasers to stun and with ramming speed goes for Minnie (all of them).

Spike speeds into the glass divider which rams Spike into a stunned state.

Repeated efforts by Spike yield the same result…headaches, frustration and no Minnie. 

Over time, Minnie tests the waters, floating undangerously close to Spike, protected by an invisible barrier (unless a glass divider submerged in water gets visible water spots).  

Spike and the many Minnie minnows now exist in a new normal.  One where Spike can’t get the very thing Spike needs to survive and the Minnie collective can survive a previously-unsurvivable situation.

And I have to think Minnie is getting a decent bubble (or chuckle … whatever fish do for laughter … I’m sure it involves bubbles) at their foe meeting such a demise head-on.

Despite Spike’s multiple efforts to get to his meal, he realizes it’s impossible and literally gives up. 

Even when the researcher removes the glass divider, which enables and increases Minnie’s brazenness. Spike had been bogged down by the conditions of his environment, resulting in an inability to obtain his dietary goal.

When the environmental conditions change and the obstacle is eliminated, Spike still sees the waters as restrictive. So much so, that Minnie can do fin bumps with Spike and swim through his mouth when he yawns without changing their name to breakfast, lunch or dinner.

In addition to craving sashimi now, you may be wondering how else this story is relevant.

Have you ever thought about glass dividers in your tank?  The thing that’s keeping you from your minnows?

Less cryptically, what conditions keep you from getting what you want?

Sometimes glass dividers come in the form of long-standing obstacles, outdated rules, norms or expectations, self-limiting beliefs or people who laugh at your dreams.

Don’t allow the blinding effect of unseen obstacles keep you from adapting to changes, seeing solutions or simply trying again.

 What glass dividers are you ready to shatter to avoid assuming the pike position?