A Bird in the hand .... really?

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” - an old saying, but one that I find to be incredibly misleading. Or, as to put it more bluntly - incredibly stupid advice!

One of the signs of intelligence that I subscribe to is the ability of someone to take some small pain/inconvenience now, in order to receive a bigger pay-off/benefit later. 

We live in a world where ‘instant-gratification’ is the norm. Get it now! Have it now! One bird in the hand ‘now’ rather than two ‘later’. A little planning and foresight can go a long way. I say no to the bird in the hand now; as I can go an get a net, do a little planning, then head to the bush and get the whole flock! 

Save a little of that money rather than spending it all - or worse, spending more than that which you have earned. Do some exercise now to reap the benefits later. A little planning and forward thinking goes a long way. Imagine if our ancestors hadn’t had the capacity to forward plan for the winters of northern Europe. Many of us wouldn’t be here if they couldn’t.

For those lover son Eckhardt Tolle’s writing on ‘living in the now’ - ponder this; even he has to ‘plan’ his books, plan for his book tours, etc. Sure, live in the moment, extract all the value the present has to offer - but spend some small time planning for a future that very well may arrive. 

For those wanting a little more on this topic - google ‘the Marshmallow Experiment’ - you may very be surprised by the findings. Most people that opt for ‘instant gratification’ - do nowhere near as well in life as those who have the will and foresight to delay gratification in the present for a bigger pay-off at a later date. 

‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ - the philosophy of the short-sighted!

JBW