The Snake Chasing Effect

How Do You Relate?

Image by Anil sharma from Pixabay

Recently while going through several eMail newsletters I came across a post that Sahil Bloom shared called The Snake Chasing Effect. The following is his explanation of what that is, followed by my notes after. 

The Snake Chasing Effect — Shahil Bloom

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.

My Thoughts

When I read this post, I realized two things. 

First off, I can relate. I have been through several seasons like this in which it was my desire to “Get Revenge” when someone had stabbed me in the back, or in this case, the snake bit me. 

The second thing is I have greatly changed over the last couple of years in how I respond to situations like this. 

I had a snake bite take place a couple years ago (story for another time), and yes I was enraged initially. Initially all I wanted was revenge, I wanted to DESTROY that snake. That emotional response did sit and stew for several weeks. 

Eventually, while I still have some frustration and anger about that situation, I have moved on from the mentality of needing to get revenge, but rather to focus on myself. To accomplish what I thought I would with them, but on doing it myself. 

They may have stabbed me in the back, and destroyed my ability to trust (still working on figuring that out too), but the biggest lesson I learned is even when others do not support you, and betray you, you can still accomplish anything you desire, as long as you are willing to use that anger and frustration, and convert it into energy and motivation. You don’t need someone else to succeed, you only need the control you have over your own decisions to accomplish anything. 

How do you relate to “The Snake Chasing Effect”?