A helping hand from a hummingbird

I have been busy this summer with preparations for my home to be featured on a garden walk. For months it seemed like my to-do list was never ending and as anyone who has a garden knows, the weeding, watering and deadheading never seem to end. I must admit, I was getting bogged down in the drudgery and losing my enthusiasm for something I usually love. Instead of looking forward to my time in the garden I started to feel like it was an obligatory chore that I had to “get done “and it was affecting my mood. I realized this was happening and I wanted to get my excitement back, I just didn’t know how to accomplish it. So I set a clear intention that I was willing to see and experience this situation from a fresh and new perspective. I left it open for the universe to surprise me in an unexpected way with something that would shift my outlook. Over the years I have learned that asking for the situation to change isn’t really what I truly need. The situation isn’t actually the problem, it’s my thinking about the situation that is causing the issue. I learned this tough lesson through the school of hard knocks. However, the good news is that whenever I sincerely ask for a way to change my perspective something inexplicable and unpredictable always occurs to bring that shift about.

Then one day, out of the blue, I encountered a hummingbird nestled into my bee balm plant. I stopped and just watched him, completely fascinated by the beauty and magic of this tiny miracle. In an instant I was brought to the present moment and felt lighter, relaxed and filled with joy. I realized in that moment I was missing the thousands of other miracles all around me in my garden. By turning something I loved into a task to be completed, I had effectively lost the zest and spark behind my original passion for creating the garden. In that moment of clarity I experienced the shift and fresh perspective I had been asking for. It came in like a quiet whisper, with no fanfare or trumpets blaring announcing its arrival….just a soft still moment of peace.

Over the following weeks the little hummingbird has continued to visit me multiple times a day – and every time I see him I am reminded to stop and see the joy, wonder and miracles surrounding me in the garden. Ironically, it seems like he makes his appearance just when I need a positive boost of energy. It is truly amazing to me how something so seemingly insignificant can have the power to completely shift my mood, outlook and state of being. This was a great reminder for me that a change in perspective can come in an instant and in the most unexpected of ways. A fresh way to view our current circumstances can literally be as simple as seeing what is right in front of us. Because as Wayne Dyer famously said, “When you change the way you look at things the things you look at change”. What miracles in your life are you overlooking that are right in front of you? I think it is a question worth pondering.