A Tribute to "Greenie" and 3 Very Important Lessons

Well, "Greenie" finally bit it this last week.  But, it wasn't without one of the most amazing fights I had ever seen .  

You see, Greenie was a one of my daughters fish in the fish tank in her room.  Anyone that has had a fish tank with goldfish, glofish, or others knows that there lifespan isn't that long, but as long as you take care of them and clean the tank regularly, etc, they can last a little while.

Greenie was different.  We got him a long time ago, well over a year with some other fish and while some of the others had gone to the deep sea heave, Greenie continued to cruise on.  A few months, he started showing signs of his age and started having trouble swimming.  We thought it would be a matter of days before nature took it's course.  Wrong.

That fish lasted for months - even when it basically laid flat on its side floating at the top of the water in the tank, it would miraculously come to life and start swimming when we walked by,  I can count how many times we thought he was gone, only to see him come to life.  It started to become a joke in the house that if a nuclear bomb went off, all that would be left is Greenie and a couple of cockroaches!

Eventually, it came to an end, but Greenie surprised all of us with his longevity and ability to live.  

I took 3 lessons from this experience that I want to share with you.

1.)  You have  more capacity to withstand things than you think

The Navy Seals have the 40% rule that says when you mind says you are done, you are only 40% done.  You have more capacity to endure and keep going than you think.  We all thought Greenie had days to live and he lasted for months.  It's never over until you decide it is.

2.)  No matter what happens, keep pushing any way you can

Even though Greenie lost his ability to even swim normally and had to float on his side most of the time, he kept at it.  Every time the fish got fed, he came alive and found a way to get some food and swim.  He did it anyway he could.  In your life, you are going to have challenges and obstacles come at you from all directions - keep pushing through them and overcome them anyway you can.  It may not be pretty, but you can do it.

3.)  Celebrate the good in the bad

Even though Greenie finally moved on, the lesson in perseverance he showed to our daughter was priceless - to the point where we can now say thinks like "Be like Greenie, keep pushing.  Try harder, etc."  Going through the experience was a good one, even thought the end result was bad.  To see Greenie fight every day and keep going was something we celebrated and will remember for a long time.  It's amazing the lessons you can learn from a little fish!