Several years ago I wrote a blog about filling the bird feeders. If you feed them, they will come. That is a true statement and a great metaphor for me to remember: if I want something, I first have to do something to attract or go out and do something to achieve whatever it is that I want to attract or accomplish.
During this quarantine, I have spent a lot more time watching the birds at my bird feeders. I keep filling the feeders and have attracted some really beautiful birds. Then the squirrels showed up. They are kind of fun to watch, but not what I really intended to attract. And then the grackles showed up! Again, not my intention. Between the two of those they have driven a lot of my really cute, beautiful song birds. It’s a good reminder that there will be obstacles along the way. At first, it was frustrating. Then I thought, “I’m not the only one who has had this issue. Who, before me, has experienced this and created something to foil the squirrels and grackles?” See, obstacles happen, and someone else has had the experience.
So, I employed a couple of methods, and I have watched both the squirrels and grackles diminish in number and watch others attempt in vain to figure out how to get to the food. Huge win! But not a complete win because these methods have eliminated not only the 2 pests, but also the cardinals and blue jays and catbirds. This is the next hurdle.
All of this is to say that in any area of life, we need to do the work to get what we want, but even then we will run into obstacles that others have run into as well, and there are solutions. Nothing is ever going to be just perfect. When we stop running into obstacles, we quit learning; we quit looking for answers; we quit inventing; and that is a scary thought.