This exhibit at the South Carolina Aquarium is perfectly simple. The tank is probably 20 feet around and filled with these fish whose scales glint and glow silvery as they swim, all in the same direction, around in circles. (My personal fish identifier, Robert, tells me they’re Menhaden.) I saw them yesterday when I was chasing toddlers between exhibits, and they stopped me. I was mesmerized. The tank is thick with the fish. They’re beautiful, but their behavior is even more hypnotic than their streamlined scales. They are perfectly content to swim around in this circle, all day, around, and around. They follow each other and just keep swimming. In their school, they keep their eyes on the tail in front of them, and they know they have someone right behind them, and so they keep going. And going. And going. Circling and circling.
It’s the same way when it comes to this negative mindset, isn’t it? Someone says something negative or self deprecating or bitter. Inside my head something is triggered, and before I know it, I’m just one of a hundred fish swimming in negative circles looking for more fish to join. And the thing is that it’s easy to feel comfortable in my negativity. I mean, there’s a lot of us swimming this way, so it seems okay. Safe even.
But here’s the thing: Swimming with all the other fish may feel easy and comfortable, but why would I want to settle like that? Why would I want to be just like everyone else? I have learned that when I challenge myself, when I push past what is expected and most comfortable, that’s when I define who I am. This is when I can improve myself and the world around me.
Changing my perspective and trading my negativity for a positive frame of mind can only lead to amazing things. Even if it isn’t the easiest thing, it’s the best thing for me and my world.
So which direction are you swimming in?
Tessa Zimmerman shared this Inspiration on Life Pulp. It’s beautiful in its simplicity.
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