Once upon a time, there was a little bird. The bird had a survival instinct that demanded he fly south for the winter. However, he had procrastinated and had not been able to start his journey until Christmas day, very late in the season for birds to migrate. Because of this, about midway through his travel, he was overtaken by a bad winter storm. The bitter cold of the raging storm was too much for the little bird. Soon he was overtaken by the frigid temperatures and began to freeze. The little bird landed in a small tree in hopes of finding warmth enough to face down Jack Frost, but in the middle of the night he lost his battle with the weather and froze solid and fell to the ground.
Our little bird was now cold, hungry, miserable and in a terrible spot. The bird lay there, full of self loathing for quite some time, contemplating what were certain to be his final hours freezing to death. After a while, a bear came along. The little bird was terrified. Certainly this was to be his last hour. Alas, the bear, indifferent and oblivious to our little friend, proceeded to seek out a place under tree to answer natures call. As if to add insult to injury, the bear vacated himself of an entire weeks worth of "recycled berries" that landed right on our little friend. Then the bear wandered off into the woods to do what bears do.
Now our frozen friend lay there all cold and covered in poop, thought to himself: "I don't think life can get any worse than this". But then something began to happen. See, the fresh poo was plenty warm. The warmth slowly began to heat the bird. Over a short time, the bird began to thaw out. Slowly, the bird warmed up. Eventually he was able to stand up again and when he did, he began to move around in the poop relishing in the life giving warmth that it was providing. So enamored became the bird with his new found luck that he began to splash around in the poop and sing. The lovely harmony of the little bird singing caught the ears of a hungry bobcat nearby. The bobcat ventured over to the poop, scooped the little bird out of the poo and ate him.
There are several lessons to be taken away from our little friends journey. Number one: Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Number two: Just because someone shits on you, it does not always make them your enemy. Number three: If someone helps get you out of shit, it does not always make them your friend. And most importantly: No matter what kind of shit life throws at you, If you are warm and happy, Shut the hell up!
I have been considering this parable a bit these last few days. Personally, life has been very cold and full of poop for me and my family in 2019. I have been humbled by tragedy and forced to reflect on the most important thing in my life: The people that I love. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I also want to urge everyone to take some time and embrace those closest to you. Take some time and re-establish the bonds of loved ones and reflect on why they are important to you. And despite today's lesson, it's probably okay to sing a few Christmas carols--- Just keep it down, you never know who is listening.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my Brother in Law Allen Wright.
We miss you and wish you were here bro.
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