The Seal Team Ninja Chipmunks Way
Doing what is impossible...
One day, we discovered a hole in the plastic lid of the peanut can in the cupboard. We knew what it was—our resident chipmunk.
We were right—and we were wrong.
Here’s the story.
Living in a small rural town, we always host chipmunks.
They run in and out of our garage, stand on their hind legs to watch Del chop wood, and laugh at me while I work in the garden.
I find their holes everywhere.
Tiny, playful, and mischievous chipmunks are fun to watch, except when they go where they are not supposed to.
When we discovered that one of our cute little, fun-to-watch chipmunks was entering the kitchen and raiding the cupboards and drawers, we decided it was time to relocate the chipmunk.
We purchased a live trap, loaded it with peanuts, and put it in the kitchen.
We didn’t set it because we wanted the chipmunk to be familiar with it first. We also wanted to wait until Del could take it into the beautiful forest he managed, far from any homes and kitchens.
That was a mistake.
We shouldn’t have waited because the chipmunk immediately had the upper hand.
It was one thing after another—weather, timing—it was so long that Mr. Chipmonk had an entire month’s reprieve. Snacking on whatever he could find.
Finally, we decided enough was enough—rain or no rain—it was time for the capture and release.
That was when we discovered our error in thinking we had only one chipmunk.
Instead, it was a team of sneaky chipmunks.
No matter how we set the live traps, they managed to get the peanuts out without setting them off.
It was impossible.
But they managed it time after time. Nothing we did worked. We called them our Seal Team Ninja Chipmunks.
We took to whispering our plans in case they heard them.
Here’s what we imagined was happening.
One chipmunk kept the door open, while another held the triggering mechanism, and yet another went in—stuffed the peanuts in his mouth—and the mission was completed.
Intelligent, persistent, playful, curious, teamwork.
All these qualities would serve us all well in our daily lives.
Faced with an impossible task, think like a chipmunk:
Think things through.
Use your imagination.
Assume it can be done.
Be persistent.
Find the playfulness of the task.
Be curious.
Ask yourself how it could be done differently.
Work in a team of your choice.
Be like a Seal Team Ninja Chipmunk the next time you believe something is impossible.
If they can do it, so can you!
Footnote: There are no longer chipmunks in our kitchen. Everything is in critter-proof containers. Still, they are out there watching everything and getting away with anything they want to—except in my kitchen.
Need help with exercising your imagination? Read Imagination Mastery or take the live class starting in January. Leave life’s ruts behind!