A story from a novel I did not read, but was made to read this particular part as it resembles a lot of us who can never be too sure, me being one of them.

This is how the story goes:

‘An impala , a member of the antelope family from the Savannah, in its natural habitat and capacity leaps to heights of 10 feet’. There was nothing unnatural about a deer leaping , and I definitely did not intend to join a high jump athletic event. There was a catch though, ‘In captivity, an impala wouldn’t even think of jumping a wall as high as 5 feet if it cannot see across to where it would land’, now you've got my attention I thought.

That was a peculiar behavior and its not because its in captivity, but the fact that it cannot see where it would land him.

I agreed, that is not unique to impalas alone then, it applies to all humans who are risk averse. We take decisions every day of our lives and the short term ones we might not give much of a thought to, but for everything that can have a serious impact on our lives, we weigh within the parameters of our risk taking capacity.

Does an impala lack imagination?

He couldn't see 5 ft high above the ground , but he could see beyond it; the sky would tell him there was no mountain or tree there, his keen sense of smell would tell him if there were a water body around and his sharp sense of hearing would let him know if there was a predator on the prowl. What else could be so dangerous that he would not leap?

He was just not sure enough.

It happens to us all the time when we are in love and am talking to the ladies in the audience mostly. Having him listen to you talk non-stop for hours wouldn't be enough, having shared your life’s dreams wouldn’t be enough, having run to him for possible solutions for problems wouldn’t be enough, having spent beautiful evenings together wouldn't be enough, more importantly , just having him there wouldn’t be enough. We need more to be sure.

When we make a career switch, we weigh every possible axis that can be looked at, how it would effect our career path, how it would change the financials, how it would impact our family life and then there is one grey area which we are never too sure of. Will we make it?

In terms of the impala, it doesn't know the exact topography of the patch where it would land, if its green then is the plant growing on it thorny or does it itch, if its brown then is the rock protruding from within the earth smooth or sharp. Even though he knows the major surroundings, these small details make him hesitant.

Whenever we reach such a fork in life, we should think that if most of the big pieces fit together and make a better picture, a small blind spot should not stop us from completing the puzzle and making it beautiful. The impala does not have the capability of changing that landing spot, but we as humans do, we can always keep working on our situation to make it better and better every day.