One At A Time

           Yesterday evening I sat on my back sun porch drinking in the sights and sounds of nature.  Just outside my porch beside my flower bed, I have a potted tomato plant that I have been nurturing for several weeks.  I have begun to see the fruits of my labor literally with some beautiful tomatoes producing on the vine.  As I sat reading, I heard the “fluttering” of little wings.  Now normally this sound delights me, but at that moment I knew it was not such a welcomed sound.  You see, one of those little clever devils had spied out my plump round tomatoes and noticed that one of them is turning a pale red.  He hopped up on a hanging flower basket above the tomato plant and began to “ring” the dinner “bell”.  Before I knew what happened, one and then another and another little winged creature began to flock towards my prized tomato plant.  It was a sight to see!  Of course “mama bear” rose to the occasion and I quickly scattered their impromptu dinner party that was planned at my expense.  I then went inside and found my gardener’s net, cut a piece and covered my treasure.  Now what was most amazing about this event as it unfolded was that the whole flock did not swoop in to possess their prize.  No, one caught a glimpse of the hidden treasure, shared it with another, then another; then they shared their discovery with others and before I knew it I had a scene from that old movie “The Birds” outside my lovely patio!

          The irony of this experience yesterday is that at lunch my Dad had shared a similar story with me.  He said that on Saturday a crow had landed in a lovely cherry tree in his yard.  Now this tree has housed blue jays for quite sometime.  It was THEIR tree.  As he watched, a lone blue jay came and sat in the tree next to the crow to ward off this thief and predator.  Soon, another, then another and another appeared, and this big bad crow was being overtaken by a mob of blue jays!  He tried pecking and fighting his way in, still holding to his position in the tree and even tried stealing a few bites of the morsel that brought him there, but eventually he flew away, pecked and humiliated.

          Thinking of these two separate life lessons this morning, I reflected on my own dream, desire and purpose.  Every day I read stories of well known speakers, motivators and entrepreneurs.  Many of them have a common goal.  “I want to reach a million people with product X” or “I want to change a million lives”.  My goal doesn’t sound quite as lofty I suppose, because you see my desire in life is simply to make a difference, to bring hope and encouragement one life at a time, one moment at a time, and one day at a time.  That seems doable to me.  Before you dismiss my dream as petty, think about it for a moment.  Whether you are building a wall, growing a garden, designing a skyscraper, painting a masterpiece, composing a ballad or writing a best seller, they all start with ONE – just one; one brick, one seed, one piece of steel, one brush stroke, one note, one word – just ONE!  Somehow that makes my purpose less daunting.  So today, think about the treasure you are protecting, the plan you are developing, the dream you are pursuing, the goals you are striving for and then take that ONE step.  Watch what happens.  You will be amazed.  You will find yourself in the middle of an amazing life simply by doing that thing you do with great passion, love and desire ONE “something” at a time.