Like a Hungry Heron: Don’t Take Your Eyes Off Your Goals!

Life Coaching Tip: Follow the example of a hungry great blue heron when focusing on your goals. Visualize its steadfast concentration and assertive energy as it unapologetically goes for what it desires. The great blue heron in this story sometimes snatches fish right off the fisherman’s line, so fast that the fisherman didn’t even see it coming!

______

My husband, Jerry, and I like to take leisurely walks on Sundays and explore different areas in nature. One evening last summer, we spent some time strolling the beach at Fairport Harbor, and then decided to go out onto the fishing pier for an expansive view of the sunset.

As we climbed onto the pier, I spotted a great blue heron sitting in the weeds, just a still as can be, right next to a group of people fishing. At first, I thought it couldn’t be real because it was so statuesque and stood very close to the anglers on the pier. But a fisherman assured us that it was real and introduced us to the young bird who had been his fishing buddy all summer long.

It was endearing to hear how fondly this man spoke of the heron, especially after learning the bird was not really a polite fishing buddy at all, but more of a thief!

The fisherman told us that the heron sometimes snatched fish right off his line, so fast that he often didn’t see it coming. He said while the bird typically hovered over the water and fished for its prey, occasionally it would just stand in one place and quickly steal his catch.

He spoke of this more in admiration than irritation and laughed when he described how the heron was able to navigate over and under his line, never getting snagged. He seemed to respect the bird’s moxie so much that he was willing to sometimes share his catch with him.

I thought of that blue heron afterwards and decided to try to follow its example when focusing on my goals. I like to visualize its steadfast concentration and assertive energy as it unapologetically goes for what it wants.

Thanks to that little blue heron, one of my favorite mantras to repeat is: “I’m on it like a hungry heron!”