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[ Wisdom of the Hunt, 2013 - Chapter I ]
If you ain't gonna kill, then let it go.
That's what we learn in the sport of hunting. You have your best composite bow in the stand, which you’ve set up at the base of the hill in your grandpa's land, where you went on a trip for the year’s bow season. Then, after four hours of waiting patiently, as you should do, the deer appears, walking too far for your hitting skills. Well you better know that a bow ain’t a rifle, and the game needs to be within a certain distance, otherwise you will throw an arrow into the dirt, or worse!, into the guts of that poor animal that will run and die far away from your finding. What does a wise hunter do?
Well, I can tell you what many people do in life: they fly that arrow in hope it will hit that girl, that job, that important test, that message you wish your kid to remember, etc.
But life is a big series of hunt trips. Some problems either you solve them well, or leave them alone for a while. It’s good to understand that palliatives and temporary solutions might make some problems worse.
If you shoot an arrow at that far off deer that cannot be pierced by the power of your bow, one theses things can and will probably happen:
You miss the shot, lose the arrow and have to go back home saying to yourself “it was the day of the game”;
It scares the animal, and scared, the game gets suspicious and never goes through that region again, spoiling your chance to try again;
You hit the game badly, it dies god knows where, and you get back home without results.
In any of these situations, you won’t have the result of the hunt. As everyone should know, if you just enjoy the act of shooting at things you better go to paint-ball or to a training range: they will be happy to provide you with tools of shooting and targets that even mimic real-life scenarios. But the hunt is different: here the proper result is to bring the game home.
The honorful hunter accepts his limitation and/or the limitation of his equipment and skills and says “I let it past, I couldn’t hit him there”. But the shameful hunter learned to say “I got it, I’m sure it fell” and when someone asked “So where is it?” goes “I couldn’t find it”.
Not trying to solve a problem in life right now, right in the moment it shows up might be in some circumstances the best you can do.
Sometimes you have to wait for the right opportunity to act. The time may not be right now, may not be tomorrow, but it will come. Imagine that you are going to ask your boss for a raise because you aren’t happy with what you earn from your position. Then I ask you: is it worth going to your boss to ask for a weak raise, hearing a no, and having to leave “Okay, sorry to bother you”. Can you imagine if you wait for the right opportunity (also preparing yourself beforehand - see chap. VI) and be able to make the request based on another job offer you got: “Boss, I came to talk about a salary increase, because it's been a while I work for you, I studied, I graduated, I developed my curriculum, I specialized, and unfortunately it is not possible to continue missing opportunities that are arising for a professional like me.” A power like these, and especially if you're really a valued employee, can make your boss think, “Whoa! he must be getting proposals” and think better about his raise.
But you must be wondering, of course, what if he says “Then go after these opportunities”. And I won’t tell you I ever saw that working. But at least it’s a better try than the other.
I'll give you a better example. Imagine that you are in a relationship, everything is going well, and after two months of dating you start thinking about marriage and living together. Well, it's not the time! No man dates today to marry tomorrow. So, don't take advantage of every opportunity you think is in front of you to drop the indirect "love when we get married we're going to be so happy". You just become a boring girl and go with something that most men don't want to talk about right now. Wait for the proper time to say "So, honey, we've been dating seriously for two years, it's about time we financed a house." And you will be able to catch the boyfriend in the jump. If he stalls, maybe it's a case of understanding that "The rabbits’ bushes ain’t got no deer".
As you understand that not every problem needs to be solved at once, you may start to think about how to prepare for the best solution to your problem, and most specially a one-off and firm solution.
I cannot count how many parents training their kids to get used to “you are grounded” just for an hour or two. Soon they learn that they can get away with things shenanigans. Other parents - I can assure you quite fewer - will do just one or a some punishments, they will be firm, they will be sure, and they will be able to pass the lesson better.
And, of two hunter that return with five ducks, which would you call more successful? He who spent 10 shots or he who spent 30?
