Several years ago I worked on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico and our job was to travel from one oil rig to another and inspect them for structural integrity. Some of the rigs were quite large with 100's of workers but a surprising number of them were small, unoccupied structures with barely enough room for one person to stand. It was on these rigs that I developed an opinion of pelicans, of all things.
Pelicans preferred those small rigs and gathered in flocks, perched at the highest point and sit there but that's not all they did. They pooped a lot. And I mean a lot, in large amounts and often. They have a diet of strictly fish so the smell of there "droppings" was quite pungent. As I would climb out of the boat onto those nasty rigs, the deck on which I walked was thick with white poop slime which made my job more difficult and unpleasant. Those birds would sit above me and look at me with what I thought was nothing more than a stupid expression. They had nothing to do. They were away from predators , they have no nests to protect so all they did was sit there, eat the occasional fish and poop.
Over the years I've come to the conclusion that I can be a pelican. If I think like a disgusting pelican, I'll be a disgusting pelican. If I think like an eagle, a majestic symbol of excellence, which soars high above, I'll be more like an eagle. It's all about habits. I can have pelican habits or eagle habits.
What can those habits be? I may very well ask what's my behavior. My habits of behavior can be defined by what TV programs I watch, what I do on the internet, my work habits or how I talk to my wife. What kind of food do I eat? How do I spend my free time? What books do I read? What music do I listen to?
With the priorities I've set for business and personally, I know Life is too short to be a stupid pelican.
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