Dear Readers,
Today I have an unlikely hero's tale to share with you and some thoughts to go with it. If you were raised as I was, with tales of Robert Bruce and his tenacious spider, or Sir Winston with his "never never never give up" and countless other tales that basically end up with the moral "if you do not succeed, try try try again," then you will perhaps understand more of the little hero in my blog today.
Whilst sitting in my living room the other day, I heard a persistent tapping at the window. Now mind you, our living room window is ten feet off the ground so any tapping there is a cause for some alarm. There was however, no maniac on stilts seeking to gain entry but merely a young green finch who for some reason seemed very insistent that he was to be let in. I stood up and he flew away, but two minutes later he was back.
The next morning I got up and opened the blinds on the window and within two minutes there was a tapping at the window again, my little muse. This continued for three days and still does.
We tried to deduce what it was that so attracted the little fellow. There were some flowers, but they died and still he continued. We then considered it might be the shiny gold bowl in the bay window that was his bait, but that was moved and there was no abatement of the little muse's attentions. At one point another larger bird came and attacked him, and for a few minutes he was dissuaded but no sooner had the big bird gone than my green finch familiar was back again.
I pondered for a while on my own showing in the tenacity stakes, and about whether I was a quitter who.....quits, or a little green finch who can and does, despite the odds of breaking a five foot tall double glazed window with his little beak. I then was brought down to the ground by Passion number 2, who in her own inimitable way, broke the spell.
"Stupid bird keeps seeing himself in the window and wants to play!"
So this brave dogged obdurate display of 'stick to it ness' was no more than a stupid bird brained animal deceived by double glazing. As the old joke goes, don't be downcast, maybe your whole life will serve as a lesson to others!!!
He was Narcissus not Hero. A Muse who was a morality tale after all.
I wonder sometimes whether we know the difference between the two ourselves.
Faith or stubborn demanding of our will in spite of all that is contrary to sense.
Holding a vision firm that we have been entrusted with, or willfully refusing to understand that our need to succeed has become our vision and we did not know it.
Single-minded and focused, or blinkered and stubborn.
In the words of another faithful one, Lord grant me the wisdom to know the difference.
From 3 xl who usually runs away from his reflection, a happy musing to you all...
