There was once a turkey

There was once a turkey who kept track of things. Every day, at the same time, the farmer showed up with a nice full bowl. And the turkey, ever diligent, took mental notes: “Food again today.” One day passed. Then another. Then thirty.

After a while, the turkey started feeling safe. “This is how it works around here. Food comes every day. It’s a rule.”

Then came Christmas Eve.

Bertrand Russell used to tell this story. Not to mock the turkey, but to poke at one of our favourite human habits: the belief that if something happens often enough, it will keep happening. That if the past has been kind, the future will follow suit. That habits somehow become laws of nature.

But that’s not always how it goes.

We all do it. Not just philosophers or poultry. It happens when we make coffee with our eyes still half shut. When we think, “I already know what she’ll say.” When we answer someone before they’ve even finished speaking, because “they’re always like that.”

We call it experience. And it is, to a point. But sometimes, it’s like using an old map in a city where the streets have changed. We move with confidence, sure of the direction; yet keep going in circles, without noticing that the world has shifted.

Maybe that’s the real point: the present has no obligation to look like yesterday.

Today, something different might happen. Someone you thought was always closed off might surprise you with a kind question. You might say something new yourself; without even realizing it.

But if you’re still reading from yesterday’s script, you’ll miss it. And all you’ll feel is that sense that “nothing ever changes.”

Russell’s turkey, in the end, offers a small invitation to curiosity. A gentle nudge: “Don’t take things for granted. Especially the ones that feel most familiar.” Because those are the ones we stop really seeing.

Who knows..maybe the train is on time today. Maybe that silence isn’t rudeness, but just shyness. Maybe the dinner you’re cooking takes an unexpected turn for the better, just because you changed one spice.

The point isn’t to be right. It’s to notice. To be there.

To say, “Let’s see,” instead of “I already know.”

Sometimes, dropping the prediction is the first step to actually seeing what’s in front of us.

Take a moment. Listen. Taste. Maybe there’s something you hadn’t noticed before.

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Explore how coaching can help you and possibly access a pro bono cycle with me. Nicola Arnese offers these sessions in his free time so as not to create conflicts with other professional commitments. Some flexibility in scheduling may be necessary.