Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the spout again.

Don't you find yourself still singing those words? But that's not my point. My point is, this is one tenacious spider. You don't think about it at all in preschool and not much as an adult, but look.
That spider had more get-up-and-go than most grown ups i know these days. Lets break it down.
Here he is trying to get higher to be in a better place. Or what we hope is a better place or else why would he be so adamant about being there? But we don't know what's awaiting this poor little spider once he ascends to the top. Our nature, unless you're a real pessimist, is that good things are waiting for him. That in someway, he will be a better spider because he reaches the top. And then, the unthinkable happens; the rain starts and the spider just can't hold on any longer. Try as he might, he is washed all the way down to the bottom again. I wonder all the time how far up that spider was. Could he see the top? Was he just starting? Was he halfway? (And now that you mention it, why does the spider have to be a "he"?) Anyway, all of the rain stops and the sun emerges from the clouds. We've all seen it -- a day or two of just nasty mother nature mayhem ensues and we are left with a sky so clear and a sun so bright that for just a little while you're actually thankful for the rain. In this case, the water spout was no longer slippery and spider was able to try his trek again.
Stay with me here, i promise i have a point.
So this spider decides "what the hell. I'll give it another try". Do the visual math here. Spout vs. spider looks pretty daunting to me, yet he continues to make the effort.
I suppose i've been thinking on this lately because it seems like every financial hindrance that can come my way, has come my way. I get a quarter of the way up the stupid spout and the rain comes. I start over. I get half way up the spout and more rain comes. I start over.....and on and on and on.
I'm not even sure how tall the spout is because i have yet to be able to get far enough to see an end in sight. I keep thinking "keep trying. There will be an end soon. Just keep trying."
I am a tenacious person by nature. I mean, i have "fight or flight" just like anyone else and sometimes my flight kicks in before my fight, but i will keep going.
I just have to know what happens at the end. I know that my view will be different. I know that i will find a faster way to climb next time. I know that i will be happy with myself and proud of myself for finishing. I know that it will not always rain, and if it rains more than not, it may not necessarily be a bad thing.
Of course getting to the top makes you more visible to predators.......hhhmmm. I guess i'll have a long time to think about that in my climb up.

1 comment:

Another Conflict Theorist said...

Damn, X#3...has it come to this? Deconstructing nursery rhymes? Tsk, tsk. At any rate, I keep telling you to stop being afraid of making money but you don't want to listen..

..BTW, have you heard Little Richard's version of Itsy Bitsy Spider? Pure, unadulterated genius.