Is the Obstacle in your Path a Decoy?

Apparently the reason that I planted a garden this year was to feed the neighborhood deer.  They are loving my garden.  The trouble is, I'm not loving them because they have totally killed some of my plants.  I planted a couple rows of beans which came up and were looking quite healthy.  The next day I looked and the deer had eaten them down to a single stalk.  They missed a few, but came back the next day and finished them off. Same thing with my lilies which are gorgeous when they bloom.  Here's what they look like now:

The deer have kept my tomato plants and roses trimmed down to nubs and my squash haven't fared much better.

 

I have been contemplating several fixes including a fence (too expensive), noisy pie pans fluttering in the wind (not enough wind apparently) and even chopping up Irish spring soap which I've been told will keep them away.  So far every time I think they've moved on to greener pastures, I come out to find that they have decimated some other crop.

This morning while drinking my morning coffee on my back deck, a deer sauntered up and stood staring at me.  I thought it would be a good time to explain that they have an entire forest to eat and could they PLEASE leave my garden alone.  The deer just stared at me and then bounded away.  I don't think I made much of an impact.

My New Plan

 

I'm trying out a new plan though.  While visiting Gibbs garden, I discovered they use a decoy of a coyote to keep deer away. Put out by Montana Decoy Co. it is an actual photo of a coyote which is on a stand.  I ordered it immediately.  When it arrived, I put it together and set it by my front door, ready to take it out the next time I headed to the garden. I don't know how effective it will be with the deer, but it worked really well with my dog.  She took one look at the decoy and immediately began growling and snarling at it.  She paced the floor and I believe she would have attacked it had I not removed it from her sight.

Are There Decoys in your Life?

I got to thinking about how often we as humans are waylaid by decoys in our own lives.  We see a decoy and we think it is the real thing.  We anticipate that something won't work, that something is holding us back or that there is an obstacle ahead that can't be overcome.  What if the obstacle isn't real though?  What if like my fake coyote it's a decoy and if we ignored it or walked around it or even right through it we could accomplish our goal? What if we focused on our goal, our intention instead of the boulders in our path? 

I've set a lofty goal for next year.  I plan to retire from school counseling so that I can pursue my passion for writing, speaking and coaching full time.  There are a lot of decoys in the way:  money, ability, self-confidence and mindset.  Can I recognize them for what they are?  Can I work around and through them?  I believe I can.

What about you?  What is a goal you'd like to achieve but you think there are too many obstacles in the way?  What if they are really just decoys?  Are you going to let a decoy hold you back?

Just an aside:  Luckily deer can't read and this post was definitely NOT written for them.  I am hoping if you are a deer, then your answer to the last question is "YES!"

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