Reillys uncle Stiofáin was an avid traveller.
Each year he’d visit his brother in America and together they’d explore the vast plains and mountains of that massive nation.
And on his return he’d fill Reilly up with tales and stories of that great land.
This particular year they’d been to Colorado and he was explaining to Reilly that this is one of the few places in the world where cattle and buffalo roam together. He described to Reilly the similarities between these two animals and yet how one is much more intelligent than the other.
‘When a storm approaches, both animals can sense it in their being but are programmed to respond to it differently. The cattle, knowing that the prevailing winds come from the west instinctively head east, in order to outrun the storm. But as you know, cattle are slow and awkward and are rapidly overhauled by the speed of the storm. And instead of actually outrunning the storm, they simply end up running with it.
‘The buffalo on the other hand, resolutely wait until the storm is at it’s height, and then proceed to charge head-on in to it. To be sure, it’s difficult and frightening to begin with, but very quickly they emerge the far side of the storm. They sensibly end up minimising their exposure to it.
‘And so it is with people. Many flee their problems hoping to avoid the pain and suffering involved in confronting them. In so doing they ironically maximise their exposure to misery and hardship.
‘Clever people however, realise that problems are part and parcel of life, and that the quicker and harder they charge at them, the quicker they are resolved and overcome.
‘Reilly, you may think a time will come when all is rosy and you’ll be problem free. The reality is that you’ll always have problems. And while this sounds negative, it doesn’t have to be.
The day you realise that by charging head-on at your greatest challenges, is the day you become free, because that’s the day you realise you have the solution to overcoming your cares and worries.
LEARNINGS.
- Life is a series of problems. We have a choice. We can hope they solve themselves or we can choose to proactively solve them. One is a cow mentality. The other is a buffalo mindset.
- One of the great disciplines in life is delaying gratification. Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. According to M. Scott Peck in the book They Road Less Travelled’ ‘It is the only decent way to live.’
- Think of it this way. Many people begin their working day by putting off or procrastinating on activities they know they should do but don’t like doing. They then proceed to worry and stress about those procrastinations right throughout the day. Wouldn’t it be preferable to get them over with early in the day?
- Mark Twain had a metaphor for getting hard things done: if you have to eat a live frog, do it right away and everything after that will be easier by comparison. ‘Eat That Frog’ is a great metaphor for life.
- The obstacle is the way.
QUOTE.
‘The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.’
Marcus Aurelius.
QUESTIONS?
- What areas in your life would benefit from a buffalo mentality?
- What frogs will you eat this week?
