Fishing in the Sand

A man wakes up hours before the crack of dawn. He meanders out into the kitchen with a jovial excitement and begins to prepare for his most anticipated day of the month – his fishing trip. He inspects his tool box to make sure he has all of his bobs and jiggers and hooks. He examines his rod and reel to make sure that none of the eyelets are bent and that his fishing line is not tangled. He looks over his waiters one last time to check for miniscule punctures that would end up in a very bad day and squishy socks… Once all of this preparation is done he grabs the cooler filled with lunch and snacks and drinks, he grabs his sunscreen and other essentials and packs everything in his vehicle. The drive to the marshy habitat in which he will spend his day is about an hour and a half drive, but worth it for the fish and the scenery. Upon arrival he unloads the necessities and treks roughly a mile until his favorite fishing hole is in sight, but he stops short. Just as the sun is beginning to make its first appearance from beyond the horizon his waiters have meet the divide from the grassy habitat into the sandy one, this leads him to the best fishing spot he’s ever had… but instead he sits down and casts off into the sand. 

Now, you’re probably thinking “that’s stupid”. And, quite frankly, it is. Why would someone go through all of that work to stop short of their desired destination, especially when it’s so clearly in sight? 

Good intentions. 

It’s something most of us struggle with from time to time. 

I was listening to a conversation between two really great guys last night, my friend Bobby Hill (Check out his brilliant blog Here) and one of his best friends, we’ll call him Q. They were talking about Strengthfinders and Q’s top strength is ideation – a fascination by ideas and making connections. Bobby threw in off-handedly that ideas were great but sometimes the follow-through was difficult (thus this post was born). 

How often do we have great ideas, but lack the follow through? 

I tend to do this with crafts. I buy the items I need and I get really excited to make something, and then I get busy, or discouraged, or distracted… and the unfinished (sometimes even un-started) product lies in my closet. Out of sight, out of mind. 

I know people who do this with relationships. They start dating a person with the pure intentions of marriage only to end up doing really stupid things that damage their relationship, because they lacked discipline or they got caught up in being selfish. 

You may have good intentions with something when you buy it or even with someone when you start going out, but it all comes down to what you do in the long-run. An idea is just an idea until you put an action to it; an intention is meaningless unless there is follow-through. 

Despite all of the preparations you may have gone through to get to [insert your goal here], discouragement, or busyness, or lack of discipline, or selfishness, or whatever may hinder you has gotten in the way. You’ve stopped short of your desired destination because of [insert your excuse here] and are content to fish in the sand, even though you may be able to see the water. 

Do yourself a favor (I speak to myself here, too) and pick yourself up out of the sand and get to the water. It may take a lot of discipline, or accountability, or encouragement, but you can do it. All of that preparation is not just void because you had a momentary lapse of judgment. Also, do yourself a favor and don’t fish in the sand any more, you’ll look like an idiot.