The Successful...Caterpillar?

I'm ticked off.

I've been dreaming about a salad caprese for 3 days now.

You know the kind of salad I'm talking about? Fresh, ripe tomato, freshwater mozzerella, fresh chopped basil, drizzled with extra virgin cold-pressed premium grade olive oil and a bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Delicious! And oh-so-refreshing on a hot summer's day.

I was practically drooling as I sliced the fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. I whipped out my olive oil drizzler-thing (whatever you call those bottles with the tiny hole at the top of the pour spout), my Celtic sea salt, my pepper grinder.

And I walked out onto my deck with scissors in hand to obtain the piece de resistence: fresh organic basil.

It was then that my heart sunk.

My basil was ruined! Nearly all of the leaves were missing, and those that weren't were virtually shredded.

And then I saw the culprit.

A big, fat, hairy caterpillar. Hanging on the underside of the last juicy leaf.

He had not touched my sage, my rosemary, my cilantro, or my oregano. But poor, poor basil.

I removed the one remaining whole leaf, caterpillar attached, and shared some choice words with the plump critter. Then I cast him off my balcony.

Karmically, it may not have been the smartest thing to do, but man, I was STEAMED.

I inspected my poor basil plant, collected the tiniest of leaves that were still intact, and went inside to finish creating my salad.

I must admit, SOME basil is better than NO basil, and it was a delicious salad caprese. (Andy said it was too salty, but what the hell does he know? He's not even Italian.)

I enjoyed every mouthwatering bite.

By the time I had cleared the table and picked up the dishes, I was no longer pissed at the caterpillar. But I got to thinking about WHY I had attracted this. Especially after I'd been looking forward to it for a few days.

And then it hit me -- there was the answer!

The minute I first thought about that delicious salad, I should have gathered the ingredients to make it. But I procrastinated, and the caterpillar got to enjoy the best part of the whole salad (arguably. Actually, it's pretty much a coin toss between the mozzarella and the basil.)

I was first getting the message about the IDEA of the salad, because the time was right (or ripe, depending on how punny you want to get.)

But I said no, no, let's go out to dinner instead. And 3 days went by, before I thought about it again.

The moral of the story is simply this: Strike while the iron is hot.

When you get an inspired idea, TAKE ACTION.

No matter what the inspiration is for -- a meal, a new product idea, a book to read, an old friend you think of calling, whatever.

Today I had a conversation with my buddy Craig Perrine, and that's EXACTLY what we were talking about: taking Inspired Action. (nope, I checked. The domain name has already been taken.)

What's funny, is I've been having a LOT of conversations about "inspired" stuff lately.

Yesterday I was talking with Colette Streicher about this same topic, and I've been in constant conversation with my buddy (and newest business partner) Jeannette Maw. Jeannette has some amazing insight on the topic.

(In fact, I'm not supposed to do this yet, but I'll give you a sneak peek at what Jeannette and I are planning. It's called a total Vibration Overhaul. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone else yet!)

But I don't mean to confuse the issue. The point of this post is not "are you taking inspired action or not" (although that is a good one). Today's post begs the question: what are you hesitating on, that you could be reaping rewards from?

QoD:
Where are you dragging your feet right now?

Stop procrastinating. Listen to your inner voice and GO FOR IT! (not later...NOW)
You'll be glad you did!