Difficulties Will Not Stop the Persistent Person or Chickadee

As the sun was setting, silence and long shadows cloaked the backyard. There were no signs of life at the birdfeeder sitting alone on the tall pole planted in the ground. 

Suddenly, chaos of sound and movement erupted. A flock of birds, composed of various species, circled the feeder from multiple perches in the surrounding trees and a fence. It was no longer quiet, and the still shadows were interrupted by in-flight movement.

Traveling in a flock provides safety from predators. However, survival kicks in, and birds will show aggression towards each other to be the first to the feed ports on a birdfeeder.

Birds flew in quickly and scampered around the circular feeder platform. There were five feeding ports available, but the birds were not sharing. Birds displayed active aggression to defend and eat at this birdfeeder.

The house finches showed some tolerance for the other finches but quickly defended territory from other species. The similar-shaped sparrows flew in and bullied through the other birds. When the cardinals entered the scene, the other birds moved away quickly to avoid confrontation. They were all persistent and sought ways to get to the food.

While the scrambling and posturing occurred, a tiny bird, a Carolina Chickadee, joined in the challenge to get food from the feed ports. The chickadee was a cute bird with a black cap and throat. An observer might think the chickadee would have no chance against the bigger birds. The chickadee was half the size of most of the other birds. All of the different bird species were ready to push the chickadee around.

As soon as it landed on the platform for food, other birds moved towards it fiercely, quickly moving the chickadee to a nearby tree limb.

Would it be persistent and continue to go back to the platform after failure, one after another? The feeder port defense was relentless. The larger birds enjoyed birdfeed between aggressive encounters.

Difficulties do not stop the persistent person or chickadee. They continue despite the difficult circumstances to achieve something. For the chickadee, something was food. Like the other birds, survival instincts were observable - no give-up.

The chickadee did not have the mass or power to overwhelm any other birds. Although it was quick and could move effortlessly on the platform, the quickness alone was ineffective. The chickadee eventually understood that it had to try a different strategy.

It noticed an opportunity caused by the aggressive behaviors taking place on the platform.

While sitting in a nearby tree, the chickadee witnessed defending birds focusing on one intruder at a time. Would the chickadee's persistence and observation skills lead to dinner?

When two similar-sized birds began to spar and posture for positioning on the platform, one of the feed ports was unguarded. With astonishing speed and accuracy in flying, the chickadee saw the opening and moved to the bird seed port. It stuck the landing perfectly, immediately pushed its rounded little head into the feed port, and just as quickly exited. It landed on a nearby tree limb. From the safety of the limb, it enjoyed the birdseed it collected from the birdfeeder. Success!

The strategy worked again and again. Persistence paid off. The chickadee now made it look easy: watch for a conflict, initiate flight to the open feed port, grab food, exit, and eat. The little bird's persistence produced highly effective results - a delicious dinner.

There is a Japanese saying, "fall seven times, stand up the eighth time." The Carolina Chickadee validated the author's wise idea about persistence. It was going to continue trying until it achieved its dinner goal.

We can all learn from examples of persistence. We need to be persistent when challenges occur. Never take your eyes off your goal, and continue taking strategic actions towards goal achievement.

Martial Arts Perspective:

In martial arts, people hit skill level plateaus (their skills seem to remain the same). When this happens, it is vital to be persistent. They must continue to train to achieve goals. They learn that not giving up leads to rewards inside the training facility and in the real world.

Questions:

• How would you share the positive attributes of persistence with a friend who is ready to quit?

• Justify the truth of the Japanese saying, "fall seven times, stand up the eighth time."

• Based on your experiences, what facts can you share proving persistence pays off?

• How could you improve your ability to be persistent?

• Think of someone that you know who has demonstrated persistency. How did they overcome their challenges on the way to success?

The photograph in this post is an image from Glorify, Inc. We have a Glorify license agreement to use images and design tools from the Glorify site.