Stand on that rod

“What should I do?”

” You dont have to do anything, sometimes the best thing you can do is stand on your rod.”

“What?”

“Look, your scrambling to try and put everything into place but have you thought of the fact that in this situation maybe the only thing you can do is stand still and do nothng?”

“What did you mean by stand on your rod?”

“When I was growing up my dad used to take me out fishing for catfish, my grandma used to give me a baggie filled with dough balls to use as the bait. So my dad and I are out there fishing one day and had been for a while when all of a sudden we are surrounded by like 6 huge catfish. They are swimming all around us so of course I spring into action, my mind is racing I’ve got to catch these little fuckers! It’s at this point that I look over at my dad he is literally standing on his fishing rod completely still-”what are you doing?” I yelled “we have been out here for hours, here they are and your just standing there!”  

He looked at me for a second before turning his head, taking a drag off his cigarette and then calmly saying “sometimes when things around you get crazy the best thing you can do is just stand on your rod.”

That night we went home with all the catfish I thought my father had let slip away, by doing nothing we had actually done everything we needed to in order to get what we wanted. I have used this as a lesson in my life and no matter how difficult it may seem it is often the best option.

“Just stand on that rod”