A few years ago I put up a bird feeder just outside my office window. I spend a lot of time at my desk and computer and thought I should try it and see what happens.
When I went to buy bird seed for the first time I asked what the person in the store would recommend and they steered me in the direction of a bag full of sunflower seeds, fruits, nuts and other assorted bird edibles. I was surprised at how quickly the dull, boring, brown sparrows were at the feeder and providing me with a show.
It didn’t take long and there were yellow and purple finches, cardinals, and even an occasional rose-breasted grosbeak. I’ve never considered myself a bird watcher but it certainly made for a more colorful day sitting in my office.
Recently, when I needed bird food I decided to go the cheap route. I mean, really, what difference can it make. They’re just birds. The bag contained mostly these little light brown seeds with a very limited amount of sunflower seeds, I mean very limited amount. The colorful birds were very quickly absent from the feeder. The drab, brown sparrows stuck around because they will, apparently, eat anything.
Around this same time, we were invited to some friends for dinner. They have a backyard that is all woods and backs up to a river. When I looked out there back window I was shocked by the amount of colorful birds they had at their various feeders. They simply put sunflower seeds in their feeders and put out oranges with grape jelly on their deck posts.
My wife thought she’d give our friend’s recipe a try and put out some oranges with grape jelly in them and you see the result in the picture above. Within a short period of time the finches were back and then we got some birds we’ve never had before. A couple of different kinds of orioles, the grosbeaks came back and even an apparently rare indigo bunting!
This little experiment with the birds made me think about how I am with people. Do I put my best self out there to attract colorful, difference making people in my life? Am I willing to try new things in an effort to get a new, different, exciting result? Or, do I just put very little effort into how I put myself out there and continue to do the same things over and over expecting a different result but getting the same old boring, drab sparrow type results in my life?
I paid a price for getting the cheap bird food. I missed out on all the colorful birds. Fear has a price as well. Fear keeps us in a black and white world. It might feel safe and secure but it can be pretty boring and we often find ourselves wanting more. We often find ourselves asking, “What if…?” Regret becomes a regular meal in the household of fear.
Getting good bird seed has a price. Courage has a price as well. We might fail, we might embarrass ourselves, we might lose friendships. But, we might succeed, we might grow, we might change the lives of others as well as ourselves! We might experience even more than we could ever imagine if we have the courage to attract something different in our lives.
Either way, you’re going to pay price. Do you want to pay the price for fear or the price for courage?
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
Do you need a speaker for an upcoming event? I’d love to be that guy. You can reach me at dave@cultivatecourage.com or 952-200-7499.
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