What I learned from Greater Yellow Legs

One summer evening, while the sun was hanging low on the horizon, I sat off to myself, in the calm surf near a rock jetty. The gentle waves rippled over my legs, and I was content to watch children and families frolic in the Gulf waters off to my right. I was counting my blessings when I received another unexpected one. I spied a large shore bird aggressively pursuing its dinner, wading in and out of the shallows, making its way downstream towards where I sat near the rock formation. At first I thought it was a blue heron, but as it flitted closer, I realized how the Great Yellow Legs had gotten its name. This bird had nearly thirty-six inch long, bright, yellow stick legs. I almost chuckled out loud at its appearance and determination to catch its prey. That silly bird chased a small fish to within ten feet of where I sat holding my breath, watching in awe. It snatched a six inch nearly see-through fish. Yellow Legs flipped that fish on shore; the fish flopped back into the water. The bird snagged it with it's long bill and pitched it back to shore. The only problem was, the bird couldn't open its mouth wide enough to just swallow the fish. It would latch on, toss its head back to gulp, and the fish would flop back onto the sand. By the time Yellow Legs got another grip, the fish was back in the surf, and the bird would fish it back out. I nearly giggled at the antics. That bird was unaware of my presence, as I sat like a statue. After about ten minutes, Old Yellow Legs won and swallowed that little clear fish whole in one gulp. The problem wasn't catching it; the problem was trying to get it up into its long beak so it could then toss its head back and devour it.

I often return to that evening, and I wonder why it is that we humans also try to swallow everything whole, and gulp "IT" down in one big bite. The good and the bad. Are we greedy? Go Getters? Gluttons?

The Greater Yellow Legs devour their meals this way, but sometimes we human beings tend to stuff ourselves with problems that seem too big to swallow in one gulp. When we try to deal with the big picture, we can't see the details, and sometimes it's the little things we need to work on. We also tend to overindulge; we want it all, the bigger the better, and sooner isn't fast enough.

I would describe that clear fish (which was as big as my open palm) as SMALL but to Old Yellow Legs with its narrow beak, that fish was BIG.

Everything boils down to perception, doesn't it? Ever notice how looking through water can magnify an object? That fish must have looked like a whale to that shore bird.

What I learned from that bird: Don't magnify your problems and don't ever give up.