I do all my writing outside.  Behind the house.  Late at night.  Under the stars.  

I like the openness, the noises, the air…  and the unexpected.   

Just after dark the other night I ventured past the edge of the light into the yard and abruptly walked through a spider’s web.  It wasn’t full blown yet, just a couple of strands—but they were really long, about 9 feet from the side of a tree down to the ground.  

I didn’t have the spider on me, but it had to be close.  And really upset.  I’d wrecked the beginnings of what would have been a giant masterpiece.

About three hours later I started out into the yard again.  This time I stopped suddenly.  Even in the low light, I could see something hanging, right where I’d ripped through a few threads of web earlier.  

I’d nearly walked through it again. 

It was the masterpiece that was meant to be, and the determined artist was right there in the middle.  In just hours, she had built a complete orb web that was 3 and a half feet edge to edge, and suspended about 5 feet off the ground… just right for intercepting flying insects… or me.

First I grabbed a flashlight, then my camera.  As you can see, there was a lot of work done in a very short time. 

And my interference had done nothing to deter the spider. 

To get what she wanted (food), she’d created what she needed (a web)—despite the setback.

So what’s the big lesson?  Is it persistence?  That’s the obvious one, I guess:  “Spiders don’t quit.”   But for me, it’s also the least interesting one.    

To me, the real lesson from the spider isn’t about persistence… it’s about doing what needs to be done.

A spider spins its web to catch food:  No web, no dinner (quickly followed by weight loss, being viewed by piers as a deadbeat, and eventually, death by starvation). 

Do you think there’s ever been a spider who was too lazy to build a web?  Or had other things to do?  Or just didn’t “feel” like it?  Or who worried he might try and fail?  Me either.  Spiders do what needs to be done.

Too bad for the spider, “Doing what needs to be done” happens to be pretty complicated.  People, on the other hand, have choices.  We can decide how much we’re willing to do—to get what we want. 

We can:

1-Do what needs to be done just to get by (most people), or… 

2-Do what needs to be done to exceed the ordinary (few people).

The average person wants much—but does little or nothing to get it.

What do you need to do?  Well, that depends on what you want… and whether you’re willing to do what it takes to get it.  Maybe you’re already doing it?  Only you know.

Hey, don’t each of us typically know what we want. 

Don’t we generally know what we need to do to get it?

So what’s left?  Doing what needs to be done. 

Taking action:  It’s the single biggest key to finding success at anything.

No excuses.

No delay.

And no quitting.

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I’m interested in your ideas—on success, orb webs, or just spider logic, your choice…

Drop a comment with your thoughts…

-jef

Tags: persistence, success

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Life Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.