The Lone Penguin

There is a video circulating Instagram right now from an old Werner Herzog documentary.

It shows a colony of penguins. Thousands of them. They are all huddled together, waddling toward the ocean. Toward food. Toward safety. Toward exactly what they are "supposed" to do.

Then, the camera locks onto one single penguin.

He stops. He looks around. And he turns his back on the ocean.

He starts marching toward the mountains. Toward the center of the continent. Toward 5,000 miles of ice and certain death.

The narrator calls him "deranged." The scientists actually try to catch him and turn him back around toward the herd.

But he refuses. He turns right back around and continues his march into the unknown.

Most people watch that and see a mistake. They see a glitch in nature.

I see Conviction.

That penguin isn't lost. He just sees something that the others can’t.

The herd follows the crowd because it’s safe. It’s comfortable. It guarantees survival, but it also guarantees you will be exactly like everyone else.

This penguin follows something deeper. He follows his gut. He follows his heart.

He decides that the path laid out for him, the path of least resistance, isn't his path.

This is the essence of one of my mottos, "Die on the Road."

If you are going to go out, go out on your own terms. Go out chasing the vision you have for your life, your program, and your family.

People will try to "save" you. They will try to turn you around. They will tell you that your goals are unrealistic, that your standards are too high, or that you are marching toward a cliff.

Let them talk.

If you are wrong, you are wrong. But at least you didn't live a life of quiet desperation following a crowd you didn't respect.

I would rather die on the road pursuing what I believe is right than live a long, safe life doing what I'm told.

Don't let the noise of the herd drown out the fire in your gut.

March your own path.

Keep the Fire Burning,

Leech

P.S. -> Here is The Lone Penguin if haven't seen it yet

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