Onward
“It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” — Rocky Balboa
Recently, I watched a Netflix documentary about Our Planet, and there was a scene of elephants in Africa traveling in search of water and food. Elephants have a deep connection to one another and travel in numbers to protect their baby elephants from predators like lions. Lions typically target baby elephants, so to survive, they stay close to their mothers while traveling. Besides protecting their babies from predators, they travel long distances because food and water can be scarce in Africa’s brutal, arid areas. For example, a herd of elephants may travel 30 miles and come across a dried-up tree with no water. Can you imagine traveling so far, seeing hope, and then being let down? For us humans, this would be a huge blow, but instead of giving up, the leader elephant made a loud trumpet sound, and the pack kept moving. Many miles later, they found a huge puddle to splash around in. What a sweet feeling that must have been for the elephants. It was beautiful to see those baby elephants playing in the water; elephants are such amazing animals.
We can learn a lot from nature if we just slow down from our day-to-day routines and look around. Our planet is very much alive, just like you and me, and it keeps moving, much like those elephants. I don’t want to sound religious, but there is a spiritual connection we all share with nature, and we humans have so many similarities to animals. One thing I like about watching these animal documentaries is understanding the purpose behind animal behavior. Even when predators hunt, they don’t do it for sport; they do it to survive. Everything on our planet and in the universe is based on energy. The key point is that not all animal hunts or migrations are successful. For example, a cheetah can go without food for up to five days, which is remarkable, given that they use a lot of energy and still may not catch their prey. In other words, they may need to go on several hunts to be successful.
As humans, we have evolved and become so advanced that we often disconnect from nature, unless you’re one of those History Channel Mountain Men — they might survive an apocalypse…lol. Back to my point, most of us don’t consider ourselves part of the animal kingdom. We all have genes that provide certain survival skills, and we have the capability to learn new ones as well. It truly is a beautiful thing! Every single one of us has been given everything we need to grow in life; it’s in our blood.
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I have been in the digital marketing industry for 14 years, and I have seen many changes, but nothing like what we are experiencing now. It is easy to be complacent, or you can stay on top of the changes to build up that mental energy so you can continue in your career and survive. Who knows, you may even thrive!
One thing I learned from watching nature is that things keep moving forward. Yes, it can be a scary place, but that is why we need to be courageous. Yes, there will be failures — lots of them — but even cheetahs, the fastest animal on this planet, have to hunt many times before being successful. The cool part is if you watch animals closely, you will see that they learn from each failure. Every animal knows they have to eat, but they grow by learning how to hunt and survive.
I know there are no guarantees, but I strongly believe that if you keep moving forward during the most trying of times, just like those elephants in the large puddle of water, eventually you will be given a lifeline!
