Their Ripples Redirected Their Path

Coming from a military background, goals have always been a necessity in order to pursue life. Since I was about 9 years old, I aspired for nothing less than what other 9 year olds' wanted-- I aspired to be an astronaut. Cliche, right? I wanted to be the first person on Mars! A girl can dream big.

I've always had a passion for the space program, astronomy, and mystery. However, with the cancellation of the Constellation Program (despite the promises of funding the space program under a certain presidents campaign platform) I had to tweak the path I'm going to follow when I get older. Now, I aspire to become a diplomat for Space Relations in Washington D.C. (or where ever they put me), in order to continue working in an area of my passion. Currently, I'm studying Physics [with a concentration in Astrophysics], Atmospheric Science, and a minor in Russian Language. . .

"...it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream." 
-Neil Armstrong

College; a place of study while learning valuable life lessons. Well, at least this is how I'd define it. I've been a college student for over two months now, and I'd be the first to admit not only my changes, but as well as these realizations.

Now that I'm away from home, attending college, I'm attempting to balance a crazy college students' schedule. Being apart of Civil Air Patrol, I needed to go to a local meeting in order to stay true to the cadet oath. Anyways, I found a local meeting spot, went there according to where I was directed by my tomtom, and parked my car. Having arrived early, I decided that I needed to become familiar with my surroundings. Down the road, there was a lovely park; nothing fancy or snazzy about it--just a simple park on the outskirts of Louisville, KY. 

As I'm taking in the refreshing breath of fresh air (literally), I just was wanting to relax. I was having technical difficulties with my cellular device, so no distractions were available to me as I had this golden opportunity of allowing my mind to ponder many subjects, without the reminder in my back pocket every few minutes, of somebody wanting to exchange ideas with me. Regardless, I took the battery out of my phone, put it in my pocket, and enjoyed my surroundings.

I hiked around a bit, admiring the trails that weren't littered by daily encounters. At the end of the trail, with approximately 20 minutes until I had to be at my meeting, there was a pond. At first, I just saw the ducks and thought, "oh, that's a cute family of ducks". As I was beginning to get up and walk away from this pond without actually having any actual deep-thought, a fish jumped out of the water to eat a water bug. Sure, it's an act of nature, but it got my gears going. As I was analyzing what was really going on at the pond, I couldn't help but to make connections. 

The ducks were just floating around in the pond; some baby ducks would act more swiftly than others, while the rest went with the flow.
The fish beneath the surface were following the trails of water-bugs to fulfill their daily meals. 
The water-bugs, well, I only noticed them as the center of all the commotion in the water--or rather, the center of majority of the ripples in the pond. 

As the water-bugs were doing their thing, floating about, I realized that they became the sparkle in the ducks eyes', and quite possibly the fish' as well (the water was rather murky). As the ducks pursued these water-bugs, I couldn't help but notice that some of the baby ducks haven't quite learned how to successfully get their dinner for that night... Some baby ducks, as soon as they spotted the water-bugs, they acted rashly and dashed towards them in hope of success. Sadly though, the ducks' disturbance was too much that wouldn't allow them to fulfill their hunger. On the other hand, the other baby ducks, that seemingly already learned the correct way, would go with the flow in the pond and didn't act so swiftly... these baby ducks, they got their fulfillment of water-bugs that evening. 

This simple observation, I couldn't help but make the connection to life itself. Those water-bugs were the goals of these ducks. Those who chose to act swiftly, didn't quite accomplish their goal (getting that delicious water-bug), and those who went with the flow in the pond and didn't act hastily, those were the ones who got to their goal.

Those who did act swiftly, their ripples that they left in the water with each rapid movement, redirected from their goal--the path wasn't direct to the water-bug any longer... the ducks were no longer in a direct path to their goals; their rapid/swift decisions put them off track.

With that being said, I couldn't help but have the realization that... 

Our goals are the center of the ripples we call "life". As you move quickly towards your goal, you disturb more ripples than you would if you just went with the flow. Abrupt movements misguide the ripples, and set you off path.

Everything worth accomplishing takes time; don't act with rash decisions in order to take a short-cut; fulfill everything full spirited and with passion :)