Go With The Flow
December 20th 2011 07:15
I have a bird table and like putting seed out for the birds. I enjoy watching them from my office window. Today, as a group of about 8 galahs were gathered round munching and chattering, it began to rain. Gradually, as it came down quite heavily, they flew off the table onto telephone wires and I assumed they would go find shelter in some tree branches. I was thinking like a human. And I was so wrong.
I was treated to an acrobatic spectacular by these 7 beautiful pink and grey parrots. What they did was hang upside down, swing around a little with their wings spread wide, to get their under feathers and belly feathers thoroughly washed. Then they did a bit of preening, and finally perched on the wires until the rain went off. At which point they descended onto the table and finished their lunch.
It made me examine my human interpretation of what I supposed their response to rain would be. Thinking like a human, rain was a disturbance to what they were doing. It was something that prevented them completing their current task. It was also unpleasant and uncomfortable so, naturally, you’d need to seek shelter.
These birds that spend their whole lives in the natural world simply adjusted their behaviour, and even more, took advantage of the rain and used this as a gift of a free, fresh shower. Then they simply waited patiently until they could resume and complete what they were originally doing.
How often do we, when something in life disrupts what we are doing, behave so flexibly, and make use of the thing that caused the disruption? Aren’t we, as humans, more likely to have an emotional reaction such as anger, irritation, stress, upset and allow ourselves to fall into a negative state?
Flexibility in the physical body is having the ability to stretch your muscle just a wee bit more to extend the capacity for motion. How we admire the beauty and grace of athletes and ballet dancers who can bend and twist and leap with apparent ease. In engineering, flexibility is the creation of a design which has built into it the ability to adapt when change occurs.
I found this quotation the other day which sadly was anonymous. It suggested to me the importance of mental flexibility.
‘New ideas stir from every corner. They show up disguised innocently as interruptions, contradictions and embarrassing dilemmas. Beware of total strangers and friends alike who shower you with comfortable sameness, and remain open to those who make you uneasy, for they are the true messengers of the future.’
When we are thrown into a situation of change, either through choice or circumstance, what is the better option: stand firm and fight it because it disrupts your security and comfort; or go with it, looking for opportunities for growth and expansion and knowledge and excitement?
Which asks for greater courage? Which gives the best rewards?
Robert Frost suggested that it is better ‘to take the road less travelled.’ Most skiers love the thrill of their marks in the virgin snow being the first. Who loves to see theirs being the first footsteps along the beach after the morning tide has gone out?
I like this quote from the actor, Jason Kravitz: ‘Be infinitely flexible and constantly amazed.’
The Master of Martial Arts, Bruce Lee, said: ‘Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.’
In future, when I find myself in a situation where I have the choice to be firm and rigid in my thinking, or allow my flexibility muscle to let me go with the flow, the choice will be easy.
I wish you well in your journey.
I was treated to an acrobatic spectacular by these 7 beautiful pink and grey parrots. What they did was hang upside down, swing around a little with their wings spread wide, to get their under feathers and belly feathers thoroughly washed. Then they did a bit of preening, and finally perched on the wires until the rain went off. At which point they descended onto the table and finished their lunch.
It made me examine my human interpretation of what I supposed their response to rain would be. Thinking like a human, rain was a disturbance to what they were doing. It was something that prevented them completing their current task. It was also unpleasant and uncomfortable so, naturally, you’d need to seek shelter.
These birds that spend their whole lives in the natural world simply adjusted their behaviour, and even more, took advantage of the rain and used this as a gift of a free, fresh shower. Then they simply waited patiently until they could resume and complete what they were originally doing.
How often do we, when something in life disrupts what we are doing, behave so flexibly, and make use of the thing that caused the disruption? Aren’t we, as humans, more likely to have an emotional reaction such as anger, irritation, stress, upset and allow ourselves to fall into a negative state?
Flexibility in the physical body is having the ability to stretch your muscle just a wee bit more to extend the capacity for motion. How we admire the beauty and grace of athletes and ballet dancers who can bend and twist and leap with apparent ease. In engineering, flexibility is the creation of a design which has built into it the ability to adapt when change occurs.
I found this quotation the other day which sadly was anonymous. It suggested to me the importance of mental flexibility.
‘New ideas stir from every corner. They show up disguised innocently as interruptions, contradictions and embarrassing dilemmas. Beware of total strangers and friends alike who shower you with comfortable sameness, and remain open to those who make you uneasy, for they are the true messengers of the future.’
When we are thrown into a situation of change, either through choice or circumstance, what is the better option: stand firm and fight it because it disrupts your security and comfort; or go with it, looking for opportunities for growth and expansion and knowledge and excitement?
Which asks for greater courage? Which gives the best rewards?
Robert Frost suggested that it is better ‘to take the road less travelled.’ Most skiers love the thrill of their marks in the virgin snow being the first. Who loves to see theirs being the first footsteps along the beach after the morning tide has gone out?
I like this quote from the actor, Jason Kravitz: ‘Be infinitely flexible and constantly amazed.’
The Master of Martial Arts, Bruce Lee, said: ‘Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.’
In future, when I find myself in a situation where I have the choice to be firm and rigid in my thinking, or allow my flexibility muscle to let me go with the flow, the choice will be easy.
I wish you well in your journey.
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