Are you in the Pigeon Trap?
There was an old storeroom in my house with a high ceiling. The roof was made up of tin sheds and there were several holes in the walls that were enough in size to let pass pigeons.
Without any care, it had been a home of pigeons for the past many years. We had tried to shoo them away but they remained there adamantly like a boy who wants from his parents the new toy gun at any cost.
They were a big headache for us. Not only did they fly overhead whenever we stepped into the storeroom, but they also dumped their shit on the floor keeping it dirty and filthy all the time. Once a fortnight, we had to wash the entire room which was hard and time-guzzling.
Having fed up with this problem, we decided to put a net around the storeroom in order to stop pigeons from entering the storeroom through those holes. This would definitely work, we thought.
We were pretty wrong. The result was startling. Unlike other birds, pigeons remain very attached to their place of birth and don’t leave it easily. Those pigeons rather preferred to struggle to get in or out of the storeroom than left the place once and for all. They started in and out through the main gate of the storeroom.
Whenever we opened the gate of the storeroom for any purpose, they swooped down swiftly over our heads within no time. They could accept being stuck in that storeroom for hours rather than leaving it or finding some new place.
Pigeons are strange creatures in the animal kingdom which don’t fly away when giving them freedom. They prefer to stay in a trap where they get food, water, and comfort easily instead of cherishing freedom. Humans exploited the pigeons’ habit a lot in medieval times by making them their messangers.
Those pigeons decline the change. Never dare to venture out of their comfortable place and risk finding something new. This situation, which I termed as the Pigeon Trap, meaning trapping into a status quo where you don’t want to change things and embrace them as they are.
Some of us fall into the Pigeon trap without realising we are in it. We resist change, avoid risks, and are averse to new learning. WE BECOME USED TO WHAT WE’RE DOING, WE DON’T WANT TO LEARN ANYTHING NEW.
Some of us don’t realise that we’re stuck in the pigeon trap. We become comfortable with what we’re doing for so long, without making any effort to expand our horizon, learn or try new things, and tread on an uncharted pathway.
Every conflict in our routine seems too heavy to bear and we try to put it away as far as possible. Our mind is a lazy controller, as pointed out by Daniel Kahneman, in his best-selling book Thinking, Fast and Slow. It doesn’t want to put more effort into tasks than it needed.
Falling into the pigeon’s trap only reinforcing its tendency of being lazy and effortless.
The problem with this is that there is no growth here. Even if you feel you don’t want to grow anymore, fully satisfied with your career point, relationship, and self-development. It might take you backward by withering your brain muscle, making you rigid, and many times eccentric.
It’s a good state for those who don’t want to grow at all or look for some better place or things in life. It’s the transformation of machines that do the same thing each day and night without any protest or dissidents.
What’s more intimidating is that it’s a slippery slope. The more you reinforce it, the harder it becomes to get out of it. You resist putting extra effort into anything and will do things for the sake of doing.
How to come out of the Pigeon’s trap?
Realisation is the most important thing in order to override the menace of the trap. A few examples give you the idea whether you are trapped in it or not.
- You avoid taking any new initiative and uncomfortable situation
- Make excuses every time you lose or procrastinate
- Doing things as you’ve been doing for many years without creativity, inputs, and extra-efforts
- Lost the vigour of learning new things
- Soak yourself with constant gratification and dopamine
- Fear to take risk and try new things
- Avoid the reality by doomscrolling
Once you realise being stuck in a pigeon’s trap, you can start training your brain to come out from it. The hardest part is over. Now the only thing needed is persistence and perseverance.
* Do every day one thing to make yourself uncomfortable.
* Read books and solve brain-storming puzzles to stimulate your sloppy brain
*Learn new things, meet new people, and detour from life’s routine task
* Be Fearless. But How?
Remember Steve Jobs’ quote, You are going to die one day. This thought is enough to remind us that there is nothing to lose in life. Hence, why do we fear things we shouldn’t fear? Let's reiterate the mantra to be fearless again and again.
Thanks For Reading!
