When life puts you in the middle of a desperate situation, gain a new perspective on how to keep hope alive.
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Welcome to the Be Your Best Self Blog by Marsha Abbott.
"You Just Never Know..."
What is happening right now in your life? Is everything absolutely perfect and just the way it should be? Are you the happiest you have ever been? Gosh I sure hope so!! But let’s be real…usually that isn’t the way it shakes out. So maybe this isn’t the case for you right at this moment. Instead, maybe you are you dealing with a very stressful situation. Maybe you are starting to feel like there is no end in sight to this awful position life has put you in. Possibly you are even feeling desperate, wanting things to change but knowing it just won’t ever happen. So instead, you just want to give up…to throw in the towel…to just succumb to the dreaded outcome you are certain is headed your way. If this is how your life feels right now, well then, this blog is for you. Because today, I have something to share with you. It’s something very important, yet I am certain it is something you have completely forgotten about…well that is, until now…
The other night I came home after a long day at work to see that one of our artificial plants on the front porch had blown over from the wind. So of course, I head right out to fix it and put it back to its original position. As I was lifting the large plant back up, I noticed a bird’s nest tucked inside the branches. While walking back to the front door, I almost stepped on some funny looking pieces of dirt on the outside rug. Upon further inspection, I realized what was actually sitting on our front porch…and then I started to scream…literally…
My daughter, hearing the commotion, comes running out the door to see what was happening. I immediately point to those three tiny pieces of “debris” sitting on the rug. She then realizes what I do…it is three tiny baby birds with hairless skin and weird bulging eyes that have yet to form…eww…gross! While I try to love all living things, I am not much of an outdoor girl and typically get grossed out by all of the creepy insects that exist. And while I can appreciate the beauty of a fully grown bird…I sure don’t need to see them in this state. They are slimy looking and make me cringe inside.
But as my daughter and I calm down and get over the fact that these are very disgusting looking creatures, we start to talk about what we should do next. It is very clear that these three little birds are still alive and that they actually survived the fall from the artificial plant. It was obvious that they were still breathing because every time the wind would blow, they would lift their head up with their beaks stretched open wide, waiting for their mom to bring them food. It’s amazing, when you think about it, the survivor instincts that all young mammals have.
And then suddenly I noticed something else very strange but also very intriguing. From a short distance away, sitting on one of the rocks that line our landscape, I see an adult bird sitting there…watching us…from the corner of her eye. And I knew, right then and there, that this must be momma bird…the one in charge of feeding these small, fragile creatures. And as I point this out to my daughter, we realized there is only one thing left to do. We had to figure out a way to get them back into that nest!
Since neither of us had any intention of touching them…yuck…we quickly moved on to Plan B. We grabbed a paper plate and a napkin and ever so gently pushed them onto the plate and then back into their nest.
And as we walked away, patting ourselves on the back for a job well done, I couldn’t help but think about how momma bird felt through all of this. If birds can have feelings (which none of us can ever know) then I am sure she was scared. And I have no doubt she was feeling like she was in a desperate state when her three little babies got blown to the ground. If she could feel stress then I am positive she was extremely stressed…wondering if her children would die on the front porch that night, or even get stepped on (which almost happened), or worse yet, eaten by a stray cat wondering the yard. She couldn’t know what was going to happen when that plant fell to the ground. And since she couldn’t save them herself, I can only imagine how defeated she felt in that moment…probably knowing with certainty that this batch of baby birds were not going to make it…there was just no way.
But momma bird forgot about something very important that night. And it’s the same thing we all probably forget about too when we are in these desperate states, these difficult situations…
We forget all about hope. The hope that difficulties in life might actually work themselves out.
Because you just never know when things might actually change for the better. You just never know when something or someone might come along and change the course of your life. You can just never be sure if that direction in life could change for the better. Because that is the thing about hope, it reminds us always, even when we have lost all control, that something or someone else might come along and change the outcome for us…to make it better.
So no matter what position life has put you in right now, no matter how desperate your situation feels…it’s important that we always remember to keep hope alive. Believe with everything inside of you that it can and will get better…even if you aren’t exactly sure how that will happen. Because momma bird too could have never predicted, she could have never known, that two humans were going to help her out and get her babies back in their home that night.
So what ever did happen to those baby birds?
I must confess that I have this new found obsession: I have been checking on the birds in that nest every single morning. And if I am being honest, then I must admit that I am just not sure if they are going to make it. It doesn’t look good. So it really will be a miracle if they survive because their tiny little bodies look so weak and fragile. But I am choosing to keep the faith because maybe someday soon when I go out to do my morning check, they will be gone. Maybe that nest will be empty because they were finally able to spread their wings and fly into a new and better life. A much healthier life than the way it all began. And while the reality is that this probably won’t happen, I am never going to give up hoping. I am going to believe with everything inside of me that they will survive…because here is the thing…you just never know.
*For those of you struggling with something in life or have a topic of interest that you want me to talk about in this blog, email me at BeYourBestSelfBlog@gmail.com. Let’s work together to Be Our Best Selves!