Vigilance

A hawk perches on a fence behind my house. Note the meat beside its talons.

    This hawk exercised vigilance. Rather than feeding beside the remains of a dead animal, it took away a hunk of meat and perched on a fence. Caution made sense. The remains lay in the woods where coyotes lurk. The fence provided safety.
    Even while eating, the hawk peered about. It rarely let down its guard.
    Like the hawk, people are cautious. They look each way before crossing a street. They avoid strangers deemed—rightly or wrongly—as a threat. Immediate threats trigger caution.
    But not all threats are immediate. Many people ignore long-term threats.
    Friends and acquaintances of mine are dead. They succumbed to cancer. A high percentage of them partied too much during their lives. They weren’t vigilant about their health. Their bad habits caught up with them.
    Short term vigilance comes easy. Long term vigilance requires discipline.