I watched a YouTube video recently. It was about a Betta fish – had no idea there was such a thing by the way – that was about to die and was rescued! Yes, it was about this fish. Now, as for me and where I am from, you eat fish no questions asked. Therefore, to rescue a fish would be seen as a very strange thing indeed!
The video begins with the rescuer of said fish giving an account of her first meeting with this very lucky-still-to-be-alive fish, which was not very good, “he was very pale and very skinny, he was missing his entire tail, it had completely rotted off”. What immediately came to mind was that a fisherman encountering such a harrowing sight would just throw the poor fellow back into the water and deem it a waste of time.
However, one man’s trash is most certainly another man’s treasure. Sparing no expense, because she could, she transferred him to a hospital tank – again a new bit of information here that I never knew! So, she ‘transplanted’ it to a new home and over time with love, food and care the sickly fish recovered. The once sickly pale and emaciated fish was replaced by one of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen, wearing a beautiful and vibrant salsa dress- well that is how the fins looked to me! The point is, in this new environment with better treatment the betta fish flourished and surprised even the owner.
That takes me to my current thought. In the wrong environment we too may find our lights dimmed, our potential stifled and our very lives slowly seeping away into the cracks of despair. There comes a time when a change of environment can do a world of good. There are some who stay too long at a rest stop and forget that they are on a journey. Maybe, just maybe from time to time we have to access our current situation, transplant ourselves somewhere else if we want to flourish and reach our full potential.