Once upon a time lived a family of owls: a mother owl, a father owl and a month-old baby owl on a Pine tree. Content in their newly established world, the mother owl took care of the baby owl happily, whereas the father owl would happily hunt extra and successfully so for his family.
One day a pack of ravens made their own nest on a nearby cliff. This terrified the mother owl and she expressed her concern to the father owl, “Did you notice the flock of ravens up that hill, which they have recently made their home? I am concerned about our child… You know right…”
“Yes, I already noticed them…”, replied father old “And yes, I also know the great rivalry that exists between the owls and the ravens. But those are old times dear, we’ve come a long way now. We are all birds in the end and I’m sure even they understand that!” Not completely convinced but believing and relying on him, she nodded in agreement. Her argument seemed not so unusual because owls tend to prey on ravens and the ravens in return would kill the owls in packs.
Days passed on and things certainly changed in this tiny part of the forest. Ravens typically hunt in packs and when they do so, they tend to be typically loud. The whole neighbourhood knew when they were hunting. No one complained, some out of fear, while some just ignored, acknowledging “that’s the way they do it.” The father owl was one of them.
But one day, the owl saw a couple of wild dogs right under their Pine tree. Never in his life had he seen wild dogs in that area. This was an alarming development and then he saw that they were chasing this flock of ravens. The loud nature of ravens had attracted a lot of danger. Realizing the potential damage this could lead to, the owl decided to have a talk with the ravens.
Cautiously approaching the head of the ravens, and was convinced that his message would be reciprocated. He began, “Hello Mr Raven, you’d have realized by now that we are neighbours. I don’t think the traditional rivalries between owls and ravens should continue to exist anymore and nor do I mean any harm to your family, as you’d have noticed by now. But I do have a small request: I am aware you hunt in packs – which in turn creates noise. Now that doesn’t bother us, but it is attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Yesterday, I saw a couple of hungry wild dogs which were never to be seen in these woods. Now they are a danger for you as well as the sparrows, the ospreys living here. Perhaps there could be a way to hunt more strategically and silently. I could volunteer myself to demonstrate that…”
“Enough said!”, cut the head of the raven, “Just because we haven’t hunted you down doesn’t give you any right to lecture me. This is how we ravens have always done and how we’ll continue doing it! And let me also tell you, this is the REAL bird way, the ONLY RIGHT way to do it!”
“Look, I don’t want to comment on what is right and wrong…”, replied the owl. “The only reason I am here is because of the potential harm the wild dogs can do to our families… and it can be avoided. Surely there’d be some things I can learn from you and maybe a few you can learn from us. We can collectively solve many problems…”
“Learn from you? You are a cowardly bunch that hunts at night. Oh, that reminds me that you are blind in the broad daylight! Look if there’s anything, you should learn from us. Our ways, our methods, and our cult is the real path to the life of a bird. You may call it selfish but that’s the way it is. Get used to it or become one of us before lecturing me!”
Disappointed, the owl left without a word. The next day the hunting noise was louder than before. No one knew what was happening except the owl. He chose to ignore it and went on with his business. The day after when the owl was returning from his hunt, he heard a loud chaotic noise. Initially, he thought it was the ravens, but something was different this time.
There was a huge pack of wild dogs growling and barking around. A few had hunted the squirrels, and a few had ravens and sparrows in their mouth. Avoiding them with great difficulty, he made it back to the nest. Something had changed. He saw a stunned mother owl with a torn wing and the baby owl nowhere to be seen. She asked one question, that floored the father owl – “Can your idealism bring my baby back to me?”
The father owl disintegrated from within. He had not only lost his child but also was responsible for it. Despite the common notion, he had decided to stick and live up to his perception of the ideal world. There was wisdom pounding on his doors, but his glasses of ideal vision prevented him from opening them.
Blind as he was in the daylight, the father owl was a visionary. He had set up his ideals and also walked the talk. But amid his idealism, he forgot that there exists a reality that affects everyone no matter what they believe in!
Have you met a father owl in your lifetime? Or were you the one? Acting out on a set of ideals that definitely ‘seem good’ but don’t seem to replicate in reality? Or more precisely, someone trying to sell their vision or goals to people who either can’t see or don’t want to see? In these cases, it’s not about their efforts but rather the error in judgement, For it’s not about hitting the nail in the wood, where the effort plays a role. Rather it’s more about hitting the nail on a chocolate pudding cake – the efforts become inconsequential!
The father owl was punished with the loss of his child for the error in his judgement. Maybe the errors in our judgement could cost us a little less or a tad more. But one thing that we almost certainly lose is time, the most precious resource of our realities.
The decisions we make consciously or not, directly affect our lives. There is wisdom to be found in statistics, in sensing the situational reality. Naval Ravikant’s answer on being asked the definition of wisdom sums it up – “Understanding the long-term consequences of your actions.”
Wisdom = “Understanding the long-term consequences of your actions.”
– Naval Ravikant, on definition of wisdom
