“Man’s highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.” – Goethe
Inspiration can come from peculiar places, can’t it? This morning, when I was supposed to be working valiantly on my websites, I found myself staring out the window (for better or worse, one is right beside my computer desk). There are about 3 inches of snow on the ground and the winter trees are outlined in white. One of our bird feeding stations is in direct view from my window (brilliantly planned so by my husband). The doves, blue jays, sparrows, and cardinals are especially beautiful against the white background.
I can’t seem to take my eyes off of them!
One of our feeders is a three story wooden feeder that looks like a mini townhouse. Generally it’s for smaller songbirds, but winter makes gluttons out of larger birds – so the fight is on as they jockey for position. Beneath this wooden feeder – nearly on the ground – there’s a little platform feeder. Today it’s empty (thanks, again, to the gluttony) but it’s usually filled with seed, corn, fruit, etc.
Earlier, doves and cardinals practically covered the yard. I’d thrown out large chunks of dried bread and cracked corn earlier. My husband says doing so gives the smaller songbirds a chance to hog the feeders while the larger birds are preoccupied with the buffet. It was very effective – until they devoured everything in sight. Then the doves, blackbirds, and cardinals eyed the wooden feeder.
One sparrow caught my attention as he watched the colorful gluttons from a nearby perch. I was about a minute away from throwing on my boots and taking more bread and corn out when he swooped down to the feeding platform beneath the overly-crowded feeder. He began eating the seeds that were being dropped (inadvertently, of course) by the larger breakfast crowd!
They were doing the hard work – jockeying for position on the perches, pecking out seed, shooting one another sideways glances… The little opportunist simply benefited from their labor.
So, when the brilliant Goethe said, “Man’s highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them,” he no doubt meant the same for sparrows. It would have been pretty easy for the sparrow to fly off in a snit. He certainly had every right to feel sorry for himself and to no one would have blamed him if he shook a bitter wing in the face of justice and fairness.
I guess he figured it just made more sense to take control of the situation rather than let it take control of him.
So there you have it. An inspirational lesson served up on a snow-covered platform, by a bird no larger than your fist.
Henway says
This is the opposite of what Buddhism teaches.. which is not worry about the external condition, and not try to change it, but to try the internal – your self. Because sometimes we just have no control whatsoever over external circumstances.
Eugene says
The attention to detail in this post was inpirational. It reminds me to observe and remember that its not always good to only just work harder than your competiton, but to work smarter as well. Great post. Thanks.
joi says
Eugene, Thanks so much! That’s exactly what I reminded myself of a few weeks ago. I was sitting at my dining room table – organizing my thoughts, strategizing time management, etc. I gave myself a lecture that included the admonition to work SMARTER, not just LONGER and HARDER!
joi says
Henway, So true! The external circumstances sometimes seem to have an agenda of their own. This past summer, I wanted to really amp up my walking routine and add jogging – then I injured my right foot! The frustration was so bad that I considered just giving up. Long story short, I decided to exercise more inside and simply take LONGER, slower walks. My foot has finally healed, so this summer I have my eye on jogging!
Charlie Aden says
Beautiful – thank you. Truly inspirational and original. A pleasure to read and has given me a lot to think about.
Charlie
Ryan says
Sounds like the sparrow was able to make lemonade from the lemons he was served.
joi says
Ryan, Precisely! And without a single complaint. 🙂
Johnclave says
Very nice inspirational post thanks for sharing this we can learn many things from our surroundings these external circumstances teaches us many useful things this post inspired me a lot
Elvin says
Thanks for sharing this nice and informative post. It is really inspirational post.
Erken Rezervasyon says
thank you 🙂
Kusadasi says
beatiful, realy inspiring. thanks very much..