Big Fish/little fish.
No, not the dance moves…..
You’ll all be familiar with the sayings ‘small fish in a big pond’ or ‘big fish in a small pond’.
Well, what about ‘small fish in a small pond’ and ‘big fish in a big pond’?
I’m currently in a sunflower growing competition at work. I don’t do gardening at all, ever, but thought it would be a bit of fun. I planted my seeds in two long troughs and was excited to see them do well. They got to the point where they were competing for space, nutrients and water so I decided to buy 10 bigger pots and rehome one of the troughs. I was unaware that transplanting was risky business but all of them have adapted to their new homes and are thriving.
Now, the others are still in the one remaining trough and I treat them all equally (same position in yard and same amount of water). There is the odd occasion when I skip a day of watering and by the next day the trough sunflowers are all shrivelled and wilting. The thing is, they’re in their comfort zone, they’ve had no trauma of being ‘uprooted’ and put somewhere alien and lonely. You can see the analogy building by now I guess….
So, to the rehomed ones, everything was out of their control, they didn’t choose to move and I’m sure early on they suffered, trying to re-establish themselves in what seemed like too much space. They’re now taller and stronger than the ones they left behind! They trusted the process and had faith that things would work out.
Back to fish, as the saying goes, ‘the fish grows to the size of the tank’. This is not just true for fish, it applies to every living thing (probably!), including us humans. It’s safe to stay in the same pot your whole life, everything is familiar and you know where you are, but those that embrace change and take the risk of failure grow taller and stronger (in humans it’s not physical, it’s more mental and emotional).
So, would you rather be a small fish in a small tank or a big fish in a big tank? There is no right or wrong answer, it’s all down to personal choice.
My Inner Self 