Saturday 26 April 2014

A new prescription

I'm writing this sitting outside in the glorious spring sunshine.  A lady from the cafe has just come outside and sprinkled some cake crumbs on a large flat rock in front of me.  It's as if the crumbs landing on the rock simultaneously struck a dinner gong as a blackbird, a robin and a sparrow magically arrived to clear up the treat gifted by the kind hearted soul from the cafe.
Within seconds the flat rock is clear again - no evidence left, no sign of the delivery lady, the crumbs, or the collectors.
The cafe lady can wash her tub more easily now she's disposed of the crumbs. The birds enjoyed a feeding frenzy from an effortless find. A classic (and probably daily for this particular group) win-win scenario. Maybe we could all learn from this exchange.
From the moment the crumbs appeared, those three birds weren't searching blindly for their next scrap of food.
They came; they fed; they left.
The cafe lady gave what she had, and walked back into her day job.
Mutually beneficial.  Mutually effortless.
Too often one person falls prey to the, "Yes, it's okay, I'll do it!" virus.  While others seem to have a natural born immunity to it.  As time passes for the sufferers of the virus it's strength leaves them weakened and exhausted, plaguing them throughout their lives - with only short remissions occurring sporadically, lasting only a few days or weeks before the, "Yes, it's okay, I'll do it!" resistant virus leaps to the fore once more.
The cafe lady does what she can to support the birds in her patch.  The birds are obviously appreciative and didn't seem to mind sharing the meal between themselves either.
Do your bit, give back when you can, and make sure if you've been dogged by the, "Yes it's okay, I'll do it!" virus, prescribe yourself at least one, "No, sorry I can't right now." every day.
"Learning to say no can earn you respect from yourself as well as those around you." - Auliq Ice