Seagulls are Right

When you’re at the beach and you drop half of your sandwich, you decide to leave it be. It’s all covered in sand and dirty. Some might say it’s not salvageable. But there’s one creature that doesn’t think that. The seagull. Yes, those annoying birds that everyone hates. They flock in and eat that half of the sandwich right up.

Shifting directions for a moment, I would just like to ask you to call to mind some worries or struggles you’ve had in your academic career. There has most definitely been a moment where you have thought to yourself that you were not capable, when in all reality, that wasn’t true. I know I’ve felt the same, even on the same day as writing this. You see, it happens to everyone. Every human at least…

Now, I will tell you right now, leaving the sandwich on the ground is the correct decision. Don’t eat sand. But there’s an idea there. This bird does this because it’s stupid. But to the bird, it’s the correct decision. In your mind, as a human, you also made the correct decision by leaving the sandwich for the seagull. Again, I’m not saying that you should loiter in grocery store parking lots, no matter how thrilling it seems. You are not a bird, you are a human. I’m not saying you should be a bird, but maybe you should think like one. 

When the seagull sees that sandwich half, it doesn’t ask what’s on it. It doesn’t really care. It dives onto the ground and swallows it without chewing. When you have to tackle something challenging, you are more than likely ridden with worries. It’s not good enough, I’m not good enough. But none of that is true. The best medicine for academic anxiety is the seagull mindset. Pulling a devastatingly large confidence out of nowhere. Blind faith in yourself. It doesn’t matter what’s on your sandwich each day. You can eat it, and you can eat it as fast and hard as you can. All you have to do is realize that seagulls are right.