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The Snake Chasing Effect
Here’s a story I come back to often when I feel negative emotions rising:
A man is walking through the woods when he stumbles across a snake in the center of his path.
The snake lashes out and bites him without warning, then turns and slithers away down the path.
The man feels the sharp pain of the bite and the venom coursing through his leg. Fortunately, he’s close to the village, so if he just walks back and gets the wound treated, he’ll be fine.
But he feels the anger and resentment building inside him:
“Why did the snake do that to me? That’s not right. I’m going to get revenge.”
He starts chasing the snake down the path, but as he pursues the snake, the venom takes hold and he collapses and dies.
The story offers a powerful lesson, which you might call the Snake Chasing Effect:
In life, you’re going to get bitten by a snake every now and then.
Someone betrays you. A partner lies. A family member mistreats you. A friend lets you down. A coworker takes credit for your work.
The initial wound hurts—but it’s survivable. If you take care of yourself, walk back to the village and treat the wound, you’ll be fine.
But how often do you do the exact opposite?
The internal voice starts a familiar refrain:
How could they do this to me? I’m going to get them back.
You start chasing the snake down the path, seeking your revenge. You obsess over the betrayal. The unfairness. The injustice.
The real damage is not from the bite itself, but from your reaction to it.
The real damage comes when you chase the snake.
Nelson Mandela is often paraphrased as having said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemy.”
The Snake Chasing Effect is a reminder that the wisest response to harm isn’t retaliation or obsession, but restoration.
Don’t give the snake more power over you than it has. Focus on healing, not hunting. Tend to your wound. Mend your garden.
Your rebirth is the greatest revenge.
This hit deep. Healing always wins over revenge.