If only people did not get so impatient on the road and try to pass in a no passing lane or get on the bumper of the car in front of them If only people loved each other and were less critical, there might be no war. If only people did not pick the wild flowers so everyone could enjoy them. If only…..
Life is full of if onlys. And each of us seems to have an if only list, as if we were never the one at fault. It is so easy to judge others and not look at ourselves and our behaviors.
We need to stop our other- focused commentary, look at our own actions, and let the change that we wish to see in others begin with each of us.
Transformation is not easy. It is a slow, sometimes ugly, process. A few steps forward and often times many steps back.
Our transformation into less critical human beings reminds me of the goldfinch at my early spring feeder. What a pitiful looking sight. Late winter or early spring, when thoughts in the bird world turn to love and nesting. So, of course, Mother Nature adorns her creatures in their Spring finery. How else to attract a mate? But the change in feather finery is not an overnight process. In the middle of early spring molt, the goldfinch is starting to become a radiant yellow, but still has remnants of the dusty brown of “off season”. Hardly the bright lemon yellow beauty ready to go a courting. But wait! A day will come in the near future when the goldfinch with be as bright yellow as the sun. But after replacing one feather at a time. It is a process to get to radiant beauty.
One day we are brown and then we become splotchy…even perhaps not as charming as we were during the days of our less than best behavior. But the people in your world will be amazed the day when the transformation is complete and one less-than-best attitude or behavior is a thing of the past.
On to the next transformation. Just as with the goldfinch who must, once again molt and change for the winter and then again the next spring and season in and out, change is a continuous lifelong process.
We are a work in process. Birds change feathers and we change attitudes and behaviors. The transformation starts with letting go of just one feather…one bad attitude. The world is beautiful with grayish goldfinches in winter and splotchy ones in early spring…but oh! It is just breathtaking when the transformation is complete and they brighten their world with their completed transformation. The gold finch world takes on new excitement once the new outfit is complete. Love is in the air!
Let the transformation of our souls/attitudes begin. The path to change in our behaviors is a slow step by step process. Like the goldfinch’s experience, it might not be a pretty process. We might lose our tempers or lose sight of the process for a time. But the effort is worth the process. How bright our little corner of the world can be if we exchange even one behavior at a time. Our world will take on new excitement. Love will be in the air as we become the change we wish to see in the people around us. We can become the role model. They might even consider the molting process for themselves when they see how radiant we become in our new soul outfits!
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