Catch Flies

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I have a new friend. He lives in my car.

Well, to be more accurate, he lives next to my car, inside the driver’s side mirror. Almost every day he literally makes his home between that mirror and the door handle. My new friend is a spider.

Think about this. My spider friend is either exceptionally foolish or a total hero. Fool would likely be the easy choice but I’m choosing hero. Despite the fact that I drive over 100 km/hr down a bumpy highway most days and thus his web is very nearly destroyed every single time, that spider rebuilds every single time. That’s stick-to-it-ness. That’s grit. That’s perseverance. That’s determination. Meanwhile, I get annoyed when I have hiccups.

Let’s think for a moment about my insect friend. What else is that spider building besides a web? Character.

How is it that a spider seems to know more about character, especially character gained through discipline, than I do? And it’s not just spiders. Think about other examples in nature: beavers, rats, uh Wily Coyote. I even heard about a parrot that knows three languages. I mean p-uh-lease. Some days I have to text someone to walk me through various remote control functions. It all seems to beg the question: why are we humans such pathetic overgrown babies by comparison?

Truth is we aren’t. We just forget sometimes. There are plenty of human “true-gritters:” My go-to absolute-inspiration example is always, always, always Terry Fox. Mark Twain said, “the secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Terry Fox certainly started something, didn’t he? And despite not finishing, his momentum still has continuing ripple effects on Canadian health, perspective, and pride. That’s impressive. Therefore spiders, er I mean people, don’t stop building and rebuilding your webs. Catch those flies.