While on our vacation, one of my pleasures is to watch the birds from our second floor deck – beautiful birds of all sizes and colours that inhabit the habitat where we go.
It doesn’t take long to notice that ‘birds of a feather flock together’; they have schedules and you can almost tell the exact time of day by their presence overhead, in the morning coming to town and late in the afternoon heading back to the hills after a long day of fun in the sun. Just as the birds, we are creatures of habit.
Over the course of a few weeks I watched two small birds build a nest in the tree within my vantage point. On occasion and more than once, two larger brightly coloured yellow birds come by to cause a little disruption and ruffle the nest to get rid of it when mama and daddy bird are off doing what they do. Somehow that nest did get built and this particular morning, those big bad birds came by again, pulled it apart and enjoyed eggs for breakfast.
That got me to thinking about the birds and the life lessons we can learn from them.
As we all know, ‘the early bird gets the worm.’ Getting up early with the birds seem to be a good trait; the interesting thing is that the birds are the first to herald in the day with their cheerful melody as soon as the sun is rising. I have also noticed that as the years have gone by, I enjoy the earlier parts of the day now more than ever. It’s a good thing to ‘make hay while the sun shines.’
Every bird has their own song…and celebrates it. One particular bird I coined the ‘what-the-heck’ bird. The tune rings true as he repeats the phrase a few times in a matter-of-fact tone and then warbles off to ‘oh, well!’ We need to celebrate our individuality and give room to others to be who they are.
Have you ever wondered why birds pick a particular tree to build their nest in? I presume they are very selective, taking into account their safety and that of their offspring. Humans usually take great consideration in where they want to live, choosing the environment that suits them best.
Have you ever watched a young bird learn to fly? Just because you have wings doesn’t mean you know how to use them the first time. It’s the same with humans; we need to exercise our God-given talents and developed skills to become proficient at them. Practice makes perfect!
Another great thing about birds is that they seem to take time to enjoy life. They catch an air current high above and effortlessly go with the flow. It’s so amazing to watch them as they soar high above, seemingly in-sync with nature. We need time in our lives to refresh and refuel; that helps us to cope the rest of the time. Have you ever noticed that when you climb a hill the going can get tough, but when you get to the top and gear down, the walk is a little easier as you refresh.
Life is full of lessons, and for us – birds and all, it’s one sweet song!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
