Are You Doing What You CAN Do?
This week I thought about this question quite a bit. As a lover of nature and especially animals, I was struck with a conflict. As I was mowing the lawn on Monday I startled a sick and injured robin. It hobbled toward a tree and just sat there. I watched this poor thing sit there scared and hop back and forth attempting to fly, fluttering into the neighbor’s fence, and basically sitting still with its head drooped.
It just pained me to no end to watch this. I thought for sure by morning it would have died. In fact I even dug a mini grave for it in anticipation. However, it was still alive. Now you have to realize that I watch the birds all day in our backyard. I can see them from my office, I see them as I sit on the porch, and notice them from every window of every room. I love to see them and hear them chirp and sing. While my parents hate the woodpecker in their yard I welcome the rat-tat-tat. I’ve always found even the most ordinary bird amazing. This tiny being who can do so much – sing, chirp, build nests, lay eggs, nurture young, and fly. I mean really, humans may have opposable thumbs, but…
So here I sat with a schedule full of appointments and business and I couldn’t get my mind and heart off this bird. My partner then called to tell me of a local wild bird rehabilitation center she found online. So I called them. She suggested I bring the bird in. So there I was constructing a shoe box with newspapers, a double bagged zip lock with warm water to comfort the bird, and gently picking up this suffering creature to lay him in it for transport. With a bunch of air holes and a rock on top to secure the lid, off I went to drive 30 minutes to try and help it.
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Carol Marriott said,
July 4, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
Dear Paula;
Thank you for taking the time, to share this moment with us, and for following your heart, in the midst of your busy and chaotic schedule. I was deeply touched by this story, not just because I can fully relate to it, but something bigger clicked for me in a profound way. Together with your story of paddling amongst the lillies, and having just returned from a vacation in the glorious Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, I find myself thinking about how stressed out, busy and frantic people are these days. I find myself surrounded by people who love to “chat”. It takes everything I have to sit and listen, and I’m not successful much of the time. I have a family member who has just experienced a bout with throat cancer. I know intuitively he needs to “talk” and be “heard”. Yet I find myself running from one thing to another, while “pretending” to be engaged and listening. What could be so important that I can’t sit down and be truly engaged with him? How many people in my life have I dismissed in this way? What gifts have I missed? How many times was I too busy to spend quiet time in conversation with my parents, my sister, a friend, neighbor or even a stranger? I know this insight is ageless and universal. But today it sinks in for me in a deep way. It is the true practice of the “Power of Now”. The ability to meet each moment fully present. To move beyond our ego and be in service to another being. I will practice this with more awareness now, and I know I will be challenged. I will think of the baby robin who inspired you with a precious lesson, so you could inspire others.