By Ox Drover
Today I had an epiphany: I am happy. Really happy. Joyously happy. Exuberantly happy. Why is today different that any other day? Two months ago I was unhappy. Why am I now happy? Nothing much has really changed from two months ago.
I’m a few pounds lighter, but that isn’t what makes me happy, though, I am working on losing some weight. My bank account is quite a bit lighter than it was two months ago, so that isn’t what is making me happy. The psychopaths in my life don’t like me one bit more than they did two months ago. I haven’t found the love of my life riding on a white horse, or even a white donkey.
What is making me happy? Well, today I saw the “Bluebird of Happiness.” Yep, the real honest-to-goodness bright bluebird of happiness. Two Eastern Bluebirds, both males with colors so vibrant that I actually had to get my bird book and look them up to make sure of what I was seeing. Not the dull blue of the bluebirds we normally see in this area, who nest in holes in fence posts or in the boxes people put out for them. These were the true Eastern Bluebirds.
Why did seeing these birds and ascribing them to happiness “make me happy?” Well, I have chosen today to be happy, to look for one thing that would lift my spirits, to make myself feel happy, rather than dwelling on the many things in my life and environment that are not to my liking, or that I would change if I could, but I can’t.
I have chosen today to view those two male Eastern Bluebirds, sitting side by side on the top of a farm implement, and then flying down to my studio window where they see their own reflection and peck at these mirror images of themselves to drive off the images, to select for themselves breeding territory and to defend that territory from those imaginary birds that are trying to take over and claim that happiness and territory for themselves.
The sun is shining today, and the air is crisp and spring-like, and these birds are the harbingers of spring. After all the drab, miserable, wet and cold winter weather we had, the tough times are passing and the world and my spirits are renewing. I have a favorite book called Come Spring that is the story of a pioneer girl in upstate New York, when the U.S. was still a colonial part of the British Empire, and her stories of the terrible winters of her life and the lack of food and warmth and safety were all put aside because she believed that everything would be okay, “Come Spring.”
Well, today with the birth of a little calf and the sighting of two Eastern Bluebirds, my spring is here, and I am going to embrace it. Everything is okay, now that my spring is here. The winter is passed, and today is good.
Thanks Oxy,
I needed a little taste of spring today.
MiLo
I am so happy for you Oxdrover:)x I feel this in moments, I’d like it to be lasting:) Thanks for the hope:)x
OxD…….uplifting post! And, you’ve touched on a very, very important aspect of healing: gratitude. Each day should provide something – some thing – for which I should feel grateful. Whether it’s seeing vibrant birds warbling out their territories, or whether it’s waking up and finding I’m not in the obituaries, every day has something beautiful to be thankful for.
Thanks so much for your positivity, OxD! And, studios & springtime are a wonderful thing!
Oxy,
I too have moments like this, liking your article. Despite any difficulties that all of us may face at times, each day does have something to be thankful for, greatful for (so right, Buttons). It’s when you feel happy, contented, that is the best, isn’t it, wishing (like blueskies said) that these moments would “be lasting.” This article was uplifting to read.
Oxy, thank you very much for the reminder that we have a choice in deciding what kind of day we are going to have. It is a daily struggle for me, sometimes I win the mind battle, sometimes I lose, sometimes all I have to do is say to myself “I will not lie down or sit on the couch until 7pm” !!! The couch is too much of an invitation to lie down and curl up and cry or have a pity party for me. I hope I get a job soon so I won’t be alone so much, I like being around people! Thanks.
Oh Oxy,
What an inspiring sweet article to acknowledge spring, renewal, strength, hope, and light. And it encourages reflection, as well as, new plans.
Thank You
Oxy that’s sweet! I am heading into winter on my side of the world but understand the epiphany you are talking about. The other day I was driving through a small town and wasn’t feeling too good – stressed out and a bit bitter about everything that has happened.It was cold and had been raining throughout the day. For some reason I looked up …
And saw the most amazing rainbow cast against the blackened sky – it was so stunning. I usually only see one half of a rainbow but the whole arc of this one was visible and I drove right underneath it!
I took it as a sign to forget the fleeting pain that he has caused me – it’s not fleeting for me but it’s much better than it was. The rainbow emerged from a black sky day when so many people would have felt down and fed up. I wonder how many others were affected by seeing its majesty in the sky. I skipped through the rest of the day thinking about how wonderful the world really is.
More than anything else, I felt blessed to have noticed it and really felt the wonder of it. Does anyone else remember when you were with the P that the world lost its wonder? I stopped looking at stars and rainbows and puppies and all manner of beautiful things because I was preoccupied with my immense pain. That day I felt a little back to my normal self in recognising it and allowing its beauty to seep through me.
I hope everyone else is finding the beauty in their part of the world 🙂
Wonderful Oxy!
Oxy Sounds like God is in his heaven and all is right in your world. miracles of nature are everywhere if we take the time to look, if we can clear our mind of all the debri there is much to be happy about,,was just wonderin why two male birds are together, they must be a pair.
Beautiful Oxy!!!! Wish we were coming into Spring here and not Winter lol but your Spring vision certainly made my drab day feel better 🙂