What happens when a little fish grows tired and feels like they have nowhere to go? They begin wishing they could know how it feels to walk the land like a goat. They lose sight of what they have and begin seeking strange and interesting things. They dream of climbing trees, flying with the bees, and rolling in the mud like a soggy dog. It doesn’t matter what is or is not possible for the little fish as long as these thoughts remain dreams. The spirit needs to feel like anything can be achieved, but the soul must know there are limits to the little fish’s bowl. The fish can dream big, but it must avoid dreaming so big it burns its britches. The lesson we can learn from this little fish is that we can always dream, but we should never allow our dreams to destroy us. Sometimes the journey put before us is the path we are meant to take.
You can be a Little Fish While Still Enjoying your Wish
“The spirit needs to feel like anything can be achieved, but the soul must know there are limits to the little fish’s bowl.”
We can dream big, and we should. I dream big, and I have accomplished many great things, but we have a responsibility to ourselves to know what is reasonably possible within the framework of concrete reality.
“What happens when a little fish grows tired and feels like they have nowhere to go? They begin wishing they could know how it feels to walk the land like a goat. They lose sight of what they have and begin seeking strange and interesting things. They dream of climbing trees, flying with the bees, and rolling in the mud like a soggy dog.”
Children movies like Finding Nemo are fun films, they provide delightful underdog stories to entertain hope, faith, and drive. Unfortunately, the underdog rarely wins in real life. A cartoon is a great exploration for our spirit. It is fun to watch fictional characters stumble through a journey and somehow come out on top. Great quests are important to all of us, but these journeys require tremendous sacrifice and investment. If you want something, reach for it. But a fish in its lifetime will never be able to walk on land like a goat, climb the trees like a monkey, fly like a bee, or roll in the mud like a soggy dog. The little fish cannot become these things, so it must figure out how to achieve its dreams even when it doesn’t have the right tools.
To achieve our goals, we must be reasonable in our approach.
As much as people talk about the world being an illusion, and we can manifest whatever we want, few have received the things they have asked for. Reaching your goals takes hard work and tremendous energy. You can’t just sit on your hands and expect the universe to provide for you. This leads to unnecessary pain and suffering. In a fluke something significant may land on your lap that allows you to achieve your goals, but this too is rare. Few people win the lottery, and even fewer manage the money well enough to maintain peace after this cosmic gain.
“The lesson we can learn from this little fish is that we can always dream, but we should never allow our dreams to destroy us.”
If you want something significant start small and build. Succeeding at your first goal is only the beginning. Maintaining it becomes another matter. Once you have it you must defend it, while attempting to reach for the next goal.
The greatest shame I see in the mantras of, “You can do anything, or achieve anything.” They fail to adequately inspire others in a harmonious way. There is no aftercare, no guidance after the win, or wisdom on how to maintain what you have achieved. The fishbowl represents more than what you can do, it also reflects what you can manage. It reflects your grit, wisdom, and the limitations of reality.
“What happens when a little fish grows tired and feels like they have nowhere to go?”
When the little fish feels like it has nowhere to go it needs to focus on creating its own space, instead of trying to become something it cannot be. Find harmony within yourself, you do not have to become someone or something else to achieve this. The fish could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing by wearing the fur of the dog in the window, but it is still a fish. Being a little fish isn’t bad. It is beautiful. It can swim, breathe water, and float about the sea witnessing beautiful things. A fish can have its own squirmy family and serve as a guide for a school of fish.
And sure, in a science fiction setting some scientist could build cybernetic limbs which allow the fish to walk on land, bark and even roll in the mud like a soggy dog, but even then, the fish is still a fish. Would all the pain, and suffering of having its body mutilated be worth it? Maybe. Perhaps the sacrifice of possibly dying on the operating table, enduring the anguish, horror, hurt and heartbreak is worth it to achieve its dreams. The key here is to know what you are willing to endure to achieve your dreams.
When I had my lung removed due to cancer, I had a 20% chance of dying on the operating table, and another 20% chance of dying in the thirty days to follow. I knew that my life could be extinguished, but the sacrifice was worth it. The life I was living was worth risking for a better life, even if that life was painful and limited. It was a calculated investment. I had a dream and I wanted to achieve it. I couldn’t live the rest of my life coughing up blood and barely able to breathe. Even in this situation I was not jumping out of my fishbowl to become a dog or a bee to live the life that I needed. I was merely fixing the cracks and mending together the broken bits for me to breathe.
If you read much of what I write you will see that I focus on helping people achieve their dreams, but I think it is equally important to help them realize the hardship and plight of someone who has big goals in life.
If you want something reach for it but be ready to pay the visible and hidden price of reaching for your dreams.
“…we can always dream, but we should never allow our dreams to destroy us”
Being destroyed manifests in more than the physical sense. No matter the grit and ardor you possess there are limits. Our push for greater things, even when they lift our spirit can destroy the things within us that fuel the passions that propel us forward.
In the pursuit of your dreams are you willing to sacrifice who you are to have them? Are your dreams more important than you?
In the abstract when you are driven with enough force the answer to this question is yes! I have said yes to this question in the past, and I have paid the price for it. Eventually the hard work, time and energy invested into something will drain you so deeply it will begin eating away at the fleshy bits that make you, you.
A rubber band only has so much rubber, the more you stretch it the weaker it becomes. If you pull it hard enough the band will break, and both your dreams and your identity will be lost in the act of attempting to achieve it. These are all things no one talks about when they say, “You can do anything you set your mind to.”, or “You can do anything, or achieve anything.”
The concrete reality is that there are limitations, and though it is impossible to know what those are, you must have the wisdom to know they are real. Know that you can destroy yourself in the pursuit of achieving your dreams. Take some time to think about what your dreams are and ask if YOU are worth sacrificing to achieve them. If you are a worthy sacrifice, then you need to reconsider what those dreams are and if they are the right dreams to have. Maybe they need a few tweaks, so they don’t actually destroy you.
My dream is to leave this world better than I found it. I want to help others avoid the pits and traps I have fallen into. I want to hold a lantern toward the sky so others may see where they are stepping so they do not have to suffer in the ways I have.
This dream was born from my cancer journey. After my lung was removed, I took a good long look at myself and questioned whether my existence meant anything. I concluded that my significance was very low. The impact I may have made was emotionally valuable to my close friends, but to the scope of humanity it meant nothing.
I believe we are put on this earth to help rebuild the eternally breaking vessel. Sure, we are meant to have some fun on the beautiful adventure of life, but our purpose transcends the corporeal. It moves beyond our seconds, months, and years. We are meant to contribute a positive and meaningful improvement that moves beyond our society’s obsession with the deified personification ‘ME’.
This contribution cannot be at the sacrifice of who you are, instead it must be because of who you are.
“Sometimes the journey put before us is the path we are meant to take.”
If you are a little fish, be the little fish and strive for excellence. In the parable of the stone cutter, the man wished for many things, but with each step he wanted something greater, and at the end of his life he wished to return to being the man he once was, but his wishes were all used. When we embark on the path of self-transformation there are consequences for each metamorphosis. Changing for the sake of change, or even to achieve our dreams may be unwise, for the dreams of a fish may not match those of a goat, monkey, bee, or a soggy dog rolling in the mud. In life we always move forward, we never return. You may physically return to your childhood home, but it is not the same experience as it was when you were a child. Search for ways to capture the wonder of your woe, the spectacular seconds of each moment, and influence the flow of the world you know.
In your life there is a divine blueprint for you to follow, it is hidden, but it can be found. When you find it, you can test it against your dreams to see if they are in harmony with your destiny. You will know it is leading you astray if it requires you to destroy who you are to become who you need to be. It will free you from the shackles that keep you from wiggling your knees. It will encourage you to dance and sing and flutter through life with glee.
“The spirit needs to feel like anything can be achieved, but the soul must know there are limits to the little fish’s bowl.”
Navigating our dreams requires a relationship with Divine Polarity. We must respect the divine aspects of Mother Fox and Father Owl. This is an internal quest to harmonize our Incorporeal Union. If their marriage is facing couples’ woes the rest of our life will suffer a terrible blow. Father Owl is the Fishbowl, and Mother Fox is your dreams and goals. He must create a safe container for her and be soothed by his soul. He must give her room to breathe, dance and play, but must reign her into reality when her ideas are about the break their home. You are that home.