This is the first story in the second chapter of a book, Passport to Profit, I wrote in 1979. Does this now apply to you?

Having a Harbor

Doesn't everyone dream of having some safe harbor for the ultimate escape? A completely dependable last line of defense, so that when everything else falls to pieces, one can drop back inside this cozy little shelter and enjoy a safe snug comfortable life. Certainly it is sensible to have one. In fact, to my way of thinking, anyone who doesn't have quite a few safe harbors is not only playing a dangerous game he doesn't have to play, he is missing one of the greatest contentment's of life..confidence.

Duck in the Pond Theory

We would all have our own little partnership with our own little pond if we were ducks. The pond gives us water, food, shelter and peace. We, in turn, give it ducks. For what is a pond without ducks? We clean it, eat up unnecessary plants and in general keep everything in tiptop condition. However, every once in a while the hunters arrive. Very quickly the rules of the partnership change. You see, the pond as your partner has a limited range of powers. Whether it likes it or not, a new partnership is about to be imposed upon the pond. It will be forced to join in a hunter/pond partnership and part of the rules of that relationship is that the hunters can shoot at the ducks on the pond. This not only throws you, the duck, into an unrequested, unwanted hunter/hunted partnership but threatens to terminate quickly your duck/pond partnership.

It's possible if you are not careful that you will become a diner/dinner partner on the wrong end of the fork. Logic dictates what to do in a situation like this. Since your pond partner is no longer dependable because the rules are about to be changed, you should take the initiative. Rule #1 of the Duck in the Pond Theory is in fact "Don't be a sitting duck when the shooting starts", so you've go to decide what to do.

All too often in real life, people get too upset with change to use logic. Their first reaction instead is dismay. They sit there wallowing in disappointment, shock and anger because their pond has let them down. Or even worse, they sit there looking at the gun barrels and choose to blind themselves to the reality of the situation, saying this is some sort of joke or the hunters are really looking for rabbits or the pond won't let this happen.

Rule #2 in this theory is "be realistic". If you don't accept partnerships change daily or ignore the limitations of your partner; you are not capable of deciding when to run for your harbor. You'll lie to yourself and probably to your partner. This gums up the whole works. You'll mess up a fairly clean machine by adding unwanted, useless nuts and bolts which do nothing but clog everything up.

The human mind/body partnership has an almost unlimited capacity to ignore its eyeballs, to adjust reality to match its desires. This inbred flaw causes humans to ignore reality and expect the world to revolve around them. Being realistic is accepting that no person, thing or partnership is indispensable or permanent. Realism is recognizing change and accepting it when no one is able to stop it.

If, by being realistic, you recognize that as much as you love your pond and as much as the gun barrels look harmless, that the shooting is not far away, you must act. You must get off the pond. Where do you go? Rule #3 of the theory is to be sure you have another pond to go to. I call it having a positive pond factor. The more places you have to go, the more positive your pond factor.

Until next message, where we learn how to find other ponds, may your pond be a good one.

Gary

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