On Saturday, I was sitting at my computer and something caught my eye. As I looked up, I saw my bird feeder swinging largely from left to right.
At first I thought someone had walked by and pushed it because it was swaying so big. As I looked closer, I saw a squirrel working its way up the trunk, getting in position to take another giant leap at the feeder. With the focus and precision of Evel Knievel, the squirrel poised itself and took the leap of faith, again. Still no success. But this isn’t the end of the story. With no hesitation the squirrel goes into action again.
As she maneuvered her path back up the tree, it occurred to me that there is one universally specific detail that separates squirrels from humans when living life. This is the notion of discouragement. They don’t have it, humans do.
Maybe you don’t have those moments of wondering, how life got to look this way, and how people aren’t supposed to be that way, and that was not supposed to go that way, yada yada ya.
It occurred to me that if I didn’t entertain what passed through my mind, in those moments of disbelief, much less ruminate on them, discouragement wouldn’t exist and neither would my suffering about how things appear!
In an instant, two things became clear. If I was less influenced by what charged through my mind in times of insecurity, I would have more fun, live with more inspiration, and try everything, without hesitation.