Priceless Lessons I Learned From a Heron

Along with a photo and video of the heron that taught me

Photo credit: Wendi Gordon

I walk at a local park that has a lake full of fish. A heron stalked, caught, and ate one of those fish and taught me a few things in the process. Here are three of the most valuable lessons I learned as I watched that heron:

Move on to new territory when necessary

As you can see in the video below, the heron did not stay in one place for long. It walked around constantly, searching for the best place to grab dinner. It didn’t stop until it reached the spot where it finally caught a fish.

As humans, we too often stay in jobs, relationships, or other situations that clearly aren’t working for us. Maybe they did in the past, but they no longer do. When our current environments can’t provide the nourishment we need, it’s time to look for others that can.

That search is an ongoing process, because as we change our needs do too.

Life is a journey that inevitably takes us to places we never imagined we would go. All we can do is take steps in the direction that seems best and see what happens.

Be patient and persistent when you don’t succeed at first

That video doesn’t show all of the heron’s attempts to catch a fish. It stuck its beak into the water and came up with nothing (or something it didn’t want) many times.

But it refused to give up. The heron kept trying until it finally caught a fish.

I would love to have the patience and persistence that heron demonstrated! I often have unrealistic expectations of immediate success. I get discouraged when my efforts don’t produce the results I want quickly enough. I wonder if I’m wasting time and energy on a goal I may never achieve.

Giving up too soon makes it impossible to succeed, though. As Mickey Rooney said, “You always pass failure on your way to success.”

That heron showed me that success requires patience and persistence. Failures are inevitable and can teach us what we need to do differently to succeed.

Stay focused on the task at hand

The heron was laser-focused on catching a fish. It walked steadily to the place where it ultimately succeeded. It looked at the water until it saw a fish, bent down, and grabbed it.

If you’re anything like me, you sometimes find it difficult to stay focused on one task at a time.

I used to hop on social media with the goal of quickly sharing something and get distracted by other people’s posts. I read, shared, and/or commented on many of them as I scrolled. An hour or two later, I was still doing that.

I would also stop whatever I was doing to answer incoming texts or phone calls.

Now I know better. When I need to focus on a specific task, I stay off of social media. I also put my phone in “do not disturb” mode and out of sight.

I am amazed by how much more I accomplish when I minimize distractions and focus on one thing at a time.

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Here’s a recap of the three lessons that heron taught me.

• Move to new territory when necessary.

• Be patient and persistent when you don’t succeed at first.

• Focus on a single task and don’t let anything distract you.

Which one is most valuable to you? How can you use it to help you accomplish a goal?