Chuck Swindoll shared a newspaper story about a woman who had a rather traumatic experience. She was using a vacuum cleaner hose to clean some tight spots in her kitchen. It worked so well she thought she’d stick the hose in the bottom of her bird cage. It worked great—that is until her phone rang! The brief distraction caused her to flinch, she heard a thump and a screech and suddenly “Chirpy” (her beloved pet canary) had vanished.
The woman instantly shut off the vacuum, called his name and stuck her fingers down the hose. When that didn’t work, she opened the tank of her vacuum, sifted through the debris and found her dirty birdy alive but looking a little shook up. When the reporter asked the woman how Chirpy was feeling now, she replied “He’s fine physically, but come to think of it, he doesn’t sing much anymore.”
After 2021, most of us can relate to Chirpy. We’re fine physically, but as we think about last year and look ahead to the new year, we don’t feel much like singing!
I like to use the last few weeks of each year to review my life. Socrates said "the unexamined life isn't worth living."
It is so easy to pick up bad habits like...
catastrophic thinking where you assume the worst in every situation.
Complaining about everything and everyone.
Jealousies that divide our relationships.
Anxiety, we find ourselves always stressed out like poor little chirpy.
As you identify the big troublemaker attitudes and actions in your life, partner with a friend and agree to hold each other accountable in a concerted effort to improve these areas. When you do it will give you your song back. It will take time, one swallow's song won't make it spring but it is a sign of positive change ahead, one day won't make a life but string enough good days together and you have a great life.
After Reflecting I like to focus on resting as much as possible. Get some rest over this break. Say no to a few things so you can get some true downtime to recharge your batteries. That will go a long way to getting your song back.
Along with Reflection and Rest, a third item for your agenda as you head into the new year is Risk. One song stealer for humans is drudgery without a dream. Humans can toil for an entire lifetime enthusiastically if they have an overarching adventure they are a part of. Is there something on your bucket list you need to move toward this next year? Risk setting out to accomplish some of your dreams. Become a world changer, you may not change the whole world but you can change the world of the people who you interact with on a daily basis.
I leave you with this parable.
"Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)
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