Don’t Put The Beetle In Your Mouth
A few weeks ago, I learned an amusing anecdote about Charles Darwin. Apparently, he enjoyed collecting beetles. Like, really enjoyed it. Dude was obsessed. You know how I have exercise goals and writing goals? Well, this guy had beetle goals. And hey, I ain’t judging. To each his own. Although there is one moment in this story that I do judge a little…
One day, while he was on a bug hunt and already held a beetle in each hand, he glanced down and saw another that he desperately wanted for his collection. In an effort to achieve his goal, he put one of the beetles in his mouth to free up a hand to collect the third.
If the story ended there we might walk away thinking - wow, that's dedication. He wanted that bug and nothing was going to hold him back.
It is that part of the story - the beetle-in-the-mouth moment - that goes viral. People hear about one snapshot of an amazing or unique achievement and it spreads. The problem is, when it makes it to our ears or our devices we start to compare ourselves and it is a comparison that is doomed to having us fall short.
When you're browsing through content on social media or hear stories of people doing gritty things, just remember that you are only seeing the beetle-in-the-mouth moment and what comes after isn't always success. For Darwin, it was only a few seconds before the beetle’s defense mechanism was triggered and excreted some sort of poison. While he wasn't permanently harmed and only came out with a burnt tongue, the reaction caused him to drop all three beetles. His moment of crazy-nothing-will-stop-me dedication lasted but a second before it took him three steps back.
When you have something you care about and want to achieve, it is very easy to let it consume you and cloud your judgment. We go after that thing that we want until it hurts us because we want it all, we want it now, and we want to achieve it by ourselves.
That type of passion and dedication is great - I don’t want you to lose that. I just want you to allow yourself the grace and time you need to collect one metaphorical bug at a time. And if you don’t have enough hands, maybe ask a friend to join you or I don’t know, bring a jar?! In other words, make a plan so you can keep your passion without needing to eat an insect along the way.
The stories we hear may make us think others are doing it faster or better or bigger but that’s only because we only get to see one moment of grit that doesn't include the consequences. It's the mountain without the valleys. It's the win without the fail. It’s the beetle without the poison. So be kind to yourself. Go at the pace you need because small, good habits will trump big grit every time.
