Fishing in a Mud Puddle (Achievement Nudge about Power of Faith)

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Last Updated on January 21, 2025 by Bill Truby

I was fishing in a mud puddle. Optimistic? Or just plain silly?

Achieve More by Having Faith About What You Believe IN, Rather Than What You’re Believing FOR

Part of my growing up years took place on a farm in Ferndale, California. The driveway to the house was a long, gravel one. It meandered alongside a cattle pasture. The road was filled with large pot holes that became mud puddles when it rained.

In those early years, I would often make my own fun out of toys I fashioned from old rusted tools, broken boards or pieces of metal I found in the horse barn. On one particular day, I used a broken shovel handle, a piece of bailing rope and a bent nail…to go fishing…in a mud puddle.

When dad drove home, he got out of his car, walked over to me, saw the shovel handle in my hand, bailing rope dangling in front, and a bent nail tied to the end submerged in the mud puddle. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Fishing,” I replied. He smiled and walked in the house.

I don’t know how long I stood there, but I recall that it was for a long time. I was fishing, and fishing meant you caught fish. If I waited long enough, surely a fish would materialize in the puddle, see the bait-less bent nail, and know what to do, right? Awww…the innocence of a 5-year-old mind.

Was this optimism? Or was it just a cute, silly act of a little boy. Though the latter is certainly true, (you should have seen how cute I was), I never lost the faith of that little boy. And, sometimes, later in life, I went fishing in the mud puddle of impossibilities, and fish actually materialized. Here is an example.

In my middle 40’s, a nodule began growing on my vocal cords. It got big enough that I couldn’t speak. It looked like an alien worm when the doctor showed me a video of it. He told me this kind and size of nodule can only be removed by surgery. But, knowing how surgery might affect my voice, the primary “instrument” of my work, I opted for time, asking the doctor if I could wait a few weeks to see what happened. He agreed and set up a follow-up appointment for six weeks later.

I changed my diet, drank more water, learned some exercises from a speech therapist, prayed and constantly visualized my vocal cords becoming smooth, with no nodule growing there. Two different doctors told me I was “fishing in a mud puddle,” but in six weeks the nodule was gone, never to return.

I could tell you more stories about these kinds of “miracles.” And I could tell you stories about people (including me) who believed…but nothing happened. I could tell you about people who were “all in,” making dramatic life changes because they believed THE FISH WILL COME! And I could tell you how sometimes their faith was fulfilled, and sometimes it wasn’t. Their drastic change just made life worse. How do you reconcile all of these different endings to the fishing?

Now, I could write pages on my theories about why sometimes fish come and sometimes they don’t. Instead, I’ll just tell you what I do, and hope it can nudge and help you. My simple-minded, cowboy-based, common sense logic is this: There’s nothing wrong in believing. That’s in MY power, I just don’t attach to the results. If there are fish – fantastic. If there aren’t, well…something else is in store for me.

I fished in the puddle until dinner – no fish. I prayed, visualized and exercised for six weeks – and no surgery. In neither case did I get discouraged because in both cases my faith was not attached to the outcome. There was “success” in both instances because “success” wasn’t tied to the outcome of believing, it was tied to believing.

You see, there is a bigger power at work here. You can exercise YOUR power of choice to believe and have faith in AN outcome. But it’s a bigger, higher power that actually determines and delivers the outcome. And I’ve found that this Higher Power has a tad more brilliance than I do.

Can you imagine what my life would have been like if this Higher Power said, “Isn’t that cute. Let’s have a fish miraculously appear in the puddle, just this once. His faith deserves it.” If that happened, I would have been ruined for life. I would have been constantly fishing in mud puddles, or discouraged and demoralized because “I” couldn’t get fish out of a mud puddle ever again.

I believe it’s important to focus on the fishing part rather than the catching part. You see, when you think your faith creates the outcome, you have taken the power from the POWER. Sometimes fish is good for me, sometimes it’s not. And here’s the good news – most of the time, the outcome FROM my faith is different and far better than the outcome OF my faith. Here’s what I mean…

FROM my faith = Higher Power’s outcome that comes FROM the fact that I have faith and belief

OF my faith = I want “THIS” as the outcome of MY faith

So…I don’t make drastic, life-changing decisions until I’m positive about what that decision is. I don’t give up on believing no matter the answer: no, yes, maybe, later, or even unheard. And I remain consistent about what (or Whom) I believe IN, while being flexible in what I believe FOR.

On reflection, I guess I didn’t have to give this lengthy explanation if I would have just told you what dedicated fishermen tell me, “The joy of fishing is GOING fishing, not catching the fish!”

This article is part of our ongoing Achievement Nudge series—short, witty, and often inspirational articles to spark your personal and professional growth. Explore more nudges on our blog, or sign up for our weekly Nudge and News email. Each edition includes an Achievement Nudge plus leadership, professional development, and personal growth videos and articles to keep you inspired and on track.

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Bill Truby

Founder and President of Truby Achievements