I think I may have found the key to success, and it all started in my backyard.
One day, while I was looking out of the kitchen window, I spotted a squirrel on top of my bird feeder. He was just as content as could be, the chubby little bugger, flicking his tail with attitude and scarfing down the precious birdseed I had so generously provided to my feathered friends.
A battle shortly ensued.
Now anyone who has engaged a squirrel in a battle for the bird feeder knows what formidable opponents they are. Being an animal lover, I tried any and all non-lethal means to convince it (I’ll call him Harry) to move along. Some methods worked better than others, but no matter how many times Harry failed, he would be back at it the next day. Eventually, he succeeded.
Harry had a goal, a single solitary purpose. Nothing short of death was going to stop him because quitting wasn’t in his DNA. Once I realized this, my frustration burned away and a new respect for Harry’s tenacity emerged. Part of me even enjoyed watching him work out new ways to circumvent the obstacles I’d devised to foil him. It wasn’t long before I considered what we all could accomplish with Harry’s tenacity. If we focused on our goals the way Harry did—with such single-minded precision, that failure didn’t exist as a possibility, the possibilities would become endless.
Needless to say, I never got rid of Harry. He’s fat, happy, and living in my backyard, his tenacity a constant reminder of the secret to becoming successful. I’m grateful for the lesson he taught me, and when obstacles come up as they inevitably do, I take a page from Harry’s book and “become a squirrel.”
In honor of Harry and his tenacity, I discovered this nifty Horse Head Squirrel Feeder. Now Harry has his very own feeder, and he can leave the birds' feeder alone!
To your success.
Toni O.