The Persistent Sea Gull
It has been storming here, in the north of the Netherlands, all day long. It doesn’t rain, nor is it extremely cold, it’s just… storming. Despite this, what we humans call, ‘bad’ weather, I had to take the dog, a chubby black labrador retriever, out for a walk.
During the walk - the dog nervous, at times almost flying - I saw a sea gull trying to fly over the road. It wanted to go from one pasture to another. The problem: it had to fly head first into the wind.
The brave sea gull passionately tried to get there. Up and down it went, hovering, proceeding three feet, before being blown back again. The sea gull got tired, that much was clear, but refused to give up.
I could not but cheer for it. “Come on boy (or girl), you can do it. Clap those wings, come on. Fly baby, fly.” The sea gull gave it another try, a last, desperate attempt, before landing on the road, and walking the remaining distance to the other pasture.
“There’s a lesson in all of this”, I thought to myself. What was it? Never give up? Don’t think too difficult? I looked at the pasture the sea gull just left. Then at the other one. Back again to the first one.
“What the hell did he leave it for?”
LOL, why did the seagull cross the road?
And that, Christine, is a question we should all try to answer for ourselves.
Perhaps because for birds, as for humans, the grass is always greener at the other side?
Glad it gave you a laugh by the way
Yes, thanks for the morning chuckle. My kids love dumb “why did the chicken cross the road” jokes and we’re always coming up with silly variations.
I liked the more serious thoughtful aspect of the post too…I’ve recently been so impressed by my daughter’s perseverance in the face of challenges that the image of this bird struggling against the wind brought to mind her strength of character.
It was, of course, meant like that indeed - on the one hand funny, on the other hand something serious to it. What struggles did she recently go through if I may ask?
lol, you’ve got a Dutch variation now!
My daughter had a little known anxiety disorder called selective mutism. At the age of 5-6, at the beginning of elementary school, she spoke only to family members and a couple of other people (at home she spoke-very articulately- nonstop and it was evident that she was very intelligent; at school and in all other social settings she was completely mute due to anxiety. It’s been a difficult struggle for us to learn how to help her overcome this (and help teachers and others understand what was causing her mutism) but I give her so much credit for facing her fears. She’s now a thriving middle schooler and last week she participated in a public speaking competition. How’s that for challenging oneself to push beyond one’s comfort zone?
how utterly fantastic.
I was handicapped as a child, but it was nothing like an Anxiety. Wow that is impressive for such a young age.
Let me just second Interested’s comment: that’s very impressive. That should make you very proud as a mother.
Thanks, and yes, we’re very proud of her.
It’s a lovely story. Sadly, my goomy predictions for the future of the US and the world infect my reaction to too much else.
My take on the sea gull:
We strive tirelessly for what we perceive as something better, battling mightliy against the headwinds of resistance. When the goal is finally reached, we find the same problems as before, only in a different landscape of particular sociological and political conditions.
Man has a pernicious way of corrupting the ideal in every situation. No matter where we go, we are there to ruin it.
The gull is the valiant individual. The pastures are two identical faces of the human condition.
It may be impolite to introduce a gloomy note Please forgive my social gaucherie..
doma,
I don’t think it’s gauche of you to introduce a gloomy note, but I think it’s sad that you feel so pessimistic to interpret it only in that way. I guess I see that as a ‘glass half empty’ view while my take on the story was that the gull persisted against adversity to get where he wanted to go; whether or not there was any great reward in the field on the other side is beside the point to me because his reward is the knowledge that he could achieve what he set out to do.
Sometimes the effort itself is the thing. The struggle and the overcoming of it are as important as the end goal itself. And while you say that we find ourselves in new situations and environments that still encompass all of the same old problems, I think it’s important to note that WE have changed even if we still face the same problems. The journey strengthens us and gives us new perspective.
CS-
What you say is true from the perspective of the individual.
I was focusing on mankind as a whole.
Of course, it’s almost as impossible to give up hope entirely as it is to voluntarily stop breathing. The very fact that I bother voicing my gloomy views is a testimonial to the survival instinct of the human spirit.
In a way, any negative observation is a plea for change. To plead is to hope. To hope is to be ready for one more go at it. Isn’t that the message of the gloomiest of all literature, art and philosophy?
It’s good to see that both of you have quite different interpretations. Both interpretations are, obviously, valid.
I read this
And instead - while thinking of the same human spirit. I think of how Mankind also manages to pull it together, the constant strive to make the lives of their children slightly better than they had. Our innate desire to impact the lives of our fellow man.
We seek the other field for number of reasons, sometimes just for the knowledge, sometimes for the challenge, sometimes just because.
Where’s the next field.