Recovery and Nature - Birds

Below is something I wrote in my journal one day while sitting by a pond on a sunny, breezy day watching the birds. 

They fly together to make the task easier for one another. A bird in flight lets the wind push it back but never stops flapping its wings. Rather than fight against the wind, the bird stays calm and lets the wind suspend it in mid-air - all the while, flapping, waiting, tolerant of that which it cannot control - but still flapping and doing it’s part.

I have the wind in my face more than at my back.  Stress, family, my own thinking, fears, and physical pain are the winds that push me back.  Life, like the wind, changes.  At times, life is easier like the wind at my back, pushing me forward through my days with comfort and ease.  Then it whips around and blows me backwards some.  Then, there is no wind at all for awhile.  Life, like the wind, is something I cannot control.


But, these birds -- they seem to know a thing or two!  They continue to flap their wings no matter what the wind is doing.  I have learned in my recovery programs how to continue to work the 12 Steps or flap my wings, so to speak, no matter which way the wind blows. 

Do not give up when the wind is in your face and things are tough.  Do not become complacent when the wind is absent and things are calm.  Do not become arrogant when the wind is at your back and things are really good!  Keep working the Steps.  Keep flapping your wings and soar into recovery!

photo credit