So yesterday the kids and I went on our annual iguana hunting excursion. This is not an organized, professional trip of any kind. It’s a made-up adventure that consists of gathering ropes, nets and water, then loading up in the iguana hunting mobile (exhibit A above) to head out to the public golf course where the iguanas hang out. The purpose, of course, is not to hunt-to-kill.
It’s to hunt for a vacation pet.
(a little video in case you need a laugh)
In our specified hunting area, you can find everything from giant leathery gray iguanas with claws as long as my hand, to the beautiful green and turquoise variety with full bodies that extend the length of my forearm. The latter are the ones we are after. They are gentle and sweet. They love to be pet and swim in the ocean. And we get to be exotic pet owners for an afternoon.
Ooh-la-la
(You know you’re jealous.)
Yesterday started out like any other iguana hunting day and I took the above photo while all the kids were running out to find our first iguana. It’s just that I forgot that this year, three of the “kids” are teenagers. And after a couple of runs, they got hot. They were too tired. It was too hard.
They quit.
They said, “We can’t catch an iguana. We need to wait for our friends who know how to do this better than us.” And with that, the teenagers proceeded to sit in the car while the young kids and I continued to run and chase those crazy iguanas without their help. Which is ironic, since the tactic of iguana hunting involves surrounding them and chasing them until the iguanas get too tired and give up.
I guess it’s a game of last man standing.
The longer I live, I’m learning that’s the way life is. Whoever stays standing longer, wins. And not in a “I win, you lose” kind of way. It’s more a sense of “everyone wins when we don’t quit.”
We didn’t catch an iguana yesterday, for the first time ever.
Our cousin had a plane to catch so we had to leave at a certain time, iguana or not. But the truth is, we might not have caught an iguana anyway. We only had half of our usual squad. The other half had already given up.
So when you’re laughing later on, thinking about me climbing trees with rope and net, yelling like a wild banshee trying to catch an iguana, be inspired not to quit.
This thing that you’re going through. The thing that feels too hard. The thing you don’t feel strong enough to endure.
This thing that you really want, but you’re afraid you’re just too tired to achieve. . .
Don’t give up.
We need you to make it. We’re counting on you.
Everyone wins if you don’t quit.
to more love
Crystal
P.S. No matter how much you may feel like it, you’re never alone. Please lean on a friend when you are tired. All you have to do is say, “I feel like I want to quit.” We’ve ALL been there.
