As I walked out of the bedroom and towards the back sun room to begin doing my “Awakening Series” of breathing exercises as I do each and every day, I looked out through the large sliding glass window and into the morning sun drenched yard and saw something about fifteen feet away that caught my eye. There was a bright green shape hovering close to a tree branch about ten feet above the grass. I thought it was the largest dragonfly I had ever seen but then realized that whatever this was, its body was vertical, not horizontal like a dragonfly, and the green color, although indescribable, did not posess the metallic sheen of an insect. I cleared my head of the last remaining traces of sleep and observed it some more. The movements it was making as it hovered and darted about near the tree branch reminded me of a helicopter’s ability to move precisely in any direction, but this was the smoothest operating, most finely tuned chopper I had ever seen.
Only then did it dawn on me that for the first time in my life, I was looking at a real, live hummingbird! I had seen them many times before on television as the subject of various science and nature programs, but this was something else. My brain quickly scrambled to gather and retrieve all its stored hummingbird data and I began to notice the bird’s small size, incredible aerodynamics, and amazing grace. I quickly understood that although man-made technology is impressive, we have not been able to come up with something like this, or even close to it. I smiled serenely and watched as the bird floated around on whatever its mission was at the time, but my hummingbird moment was about to end – or so I thought.
The larger two of our three dogs, Maggie and Elvis, came trotting down the few steps that lead into our sunroom and I was sure they would see my little flying friend and scare it away. They are very good watchdogs and enjoy defending us and our yard from serious threats such as squirrels, birds, falling tree branches and of course, their arch rivals, the cats that wander the neighborhood. I stood and watched as they strolled out into the yard almost right under the little bird. The bird saw them first and simply floated a little higher; just enough to be out of range. Since our dogs are sight hounds, our little friend was indeed safe.
Maggie and Elvis began trekking farther out into the yard and the bird remained just above it all, merely being what it was being and doing what it was doing. With the little bird now safe from the dogs, my thoughts immediately focused on a demanding and ongoing business matter I had on my hands, and all of sudden I had become aggravated. I quickly forgot all about my first, magical hummingbird sighting. Then in a flash, a ton of words landed together simultaneously on my consciousness like Newton’s apple and I received a gift from the hummingbird…
I remembered how peaceful and calm the bird looked. How it moved just high enough to avoid danger and get on with its life. The bird was being and doing. Being. Doing. We are human beings first, not human doings. We are beings who do. For all of my gathered knowledge, that morning I got caught in an emotional trap while doing. I was not in the moment, in the now. I got in the way of my own life! “Look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” I smiled because no matter how much we think we know, we can always improve, and I and my day could and would get better. I looked back into the yard to say “Thank you” to my little winged friend and saw it turn a bit towards me, flash me a look that said, “Got it? Good, I knew you would” and then it flew up and away, having taught another lesson that day.
So, with a thankful smile on my face, I finally began to perform my “Awakening Series” of exercises as I do first thing each and every morning. Before you get the idea that I am talking about weightlifting, running or those kinds of exercise, please let me explain.
The “Awakening Series” is a set of five incredible breathing exercises that take only fifteen minutes to do and are performed while standing up instead of in some difficult pose. There is no better way to start your day. They wake you up, give you energy, increase your vitality and make you feel truly alive. They are based on ancient yoga principles, but work quickly and easily right now. CLICK HERE to learn the “Awakening Series”
And just when you thought it was over...
I went happily back into our kitchen, picked up the newspaper and looked at my horoscope for the day, March 16th; which led me to laugh out loud because that date is the anniversary of my becoming a black belt in Aikido! The horoscope said, “No time for worries. If they arise, don’t indulge them. If you do, it’s a sign that you’re not playing a big enough “game.”
PS: If you’re currently playing a “small” game of life, GROW TO BE BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only then did it dawn on me that for the first time in my life, I was looking at a real, live hummingbird! I had seen them many times before on television as the subject of various science and nature programs, but this was something else. My brain quickly scrambled to gather and retrieve all its stored hummingbird data and I began to notice the bird’s small size, incredible aerodynamics, and amazing grace. I quickly understood that although man-made technology is impressive, we have not been able to come up with something like this, or even close to it. I smiled serenely and watched as the bird floated around on whatever its mission was at the time, but my hummingbird moment was about to end – or so I thought.
The larger two of our three dogs, Maggie and Elvis, came trotting down the few steps that lead into our sunroom and I was sure they would see my little flying friend and scare it away. They are very good watchdogs and enjoy defending us and our yard from serious threats such as squirrels, birds, falling tree branches and of course, their arch rivals, the cats that wander the neighborhood. I stood and watched as they strolled out into the yard almost right under the little bird. The bird saw them first and simply floated a little higher; just enough to be out of range. Since our dogs are sight hounds, our little friend was indeed safe.
Maggie and Elvis began trekking farther out into the yard and the bird remained just above it all, merely being what it was being and doing what it was doing. With the little bird now safe from the dogs, my thoughts immediately focused on a demanding and ongoing business matter I had on my hands, and all of sudden I had become aggravated. I quickly forgot all about my first, magical hummingbird sighting. Then in a flash, a ton of words landed together simultaneously on my consciousness like Newton’s apple and I received a gift from the hummingbird…
I remembered how peaceful and calm the bird looked. How it moved just high enough to avoid danger and get on with its life. The bird was being and doing. Being. Doing. We are human beings first, not human doings. We are beings who do. For all of my gathered knowledge, that morning I got caught in an emotional trap while doing. I was not in the moment, in the now. I got in the way of my own life! “Look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” I smiled because no matter how much we think we know, we can always improve, and I and my day could and would get better. I looked back into the yard to say “Thank you” to my little winged friend and saw it turn a bit towards me, flash me a look that said, “Got it? Good, I knew you would” and then it flew up and away, having taught another lesson that day.
So, with a thankful smile on my face, I finally began to perform my “Awakening Series” of exercises as I do first thing each and every morning. Before you get the idea that I am talking about weightlifting, running or those kinds of exercise, please let me explain.
The “Awakening Series” is a set of five incredible breathing exercises that take only fifteen minutes to do and are performed while standing up instead of in some difficult pose. There is no better way to start your day. They wake you up, give you energy, increase your vitality and make you feel truly alive. They are based on ancient yoga principles, but work quickly and easily right now. CLICK HERE to learn the “Awakening Series”
And just when you thought it was over...
I went happily back into our kitchen, picked up the newspaper and looked at my horoscope for the day, March 16th; which led me to laugh out loud because that date is the anniversary of my becoming a black belt in Aikido! The horoscope said, “No time for worries. If they arise, don’t indulge them. If you do, it’s a sign that you’re not playing a big enough “game.”
PS: If you’re currently playing a “small” game of life, GROW TO BE BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
