Hello,
My name is Liz and you're with me on day four of my 30-day experiment,
Which is living from a place of love rather than fear.
I'd love to know how you're getting on,
Whether you're joining me just as a one-off or you've been with me on the journey.
Just let me know what you're learning as you go through the day.
So the experiment is a reminder every day of living from a place of love rather than fear.
And today,
My learning has been about stepping back.
And that can be an expression of love.
Often we think of love as a means of stepping forward to help,
But sometimes help means stepping back.
And I've really seen that clearly today.
Let me explain more.
This morning,
As I was at breakfast,
I heard a thud against the window and I looked up,
Just saw out the corner of my eye something fall to the ground.
And instantly,
I knew that a bird had hit against the window.
It does occasionally happen.
And more often than not,
When a bird flies against the window,
Hits the window,
They die.
It's a very stressful experience.
Their bones are so delicate that they don't survive the impact.
And I got up and went to look out the window onto the patio and was actually quite surprised to see that this little green finch,
I think it was a youngster,
Had survived.
But it was obviously very stressed,
Quite stunned and in shock.
And it was standing without moving like a statue.
And as I watched it and my husband came over as well,
We discussed what we should do.
And his initial response was,
Why don't we go out,
Scoop it up into a box and just keep it safe?
And,
You know,
Whilst his suggestion I know came from a place of love and care,
I felt something deeper within me.
And I kind of knew that this tiny little bird,
If we were going to go out and handle it and bring it in the house,
That would be a hugely stressful experience,
Probably more than it could bear.
So rather than do that,
I said,
Well,
Why don't we just keep an eye on it whilst it's in this shocked position?
And we'll make sure that it doesn't get taken by a magpie or a crow or a cat.
And let's just see what happens before we step in and try and rescue it.
So that's what we did.
And after a few minutes,
It started to stretch its wings and tail feathers.
And then it started to bob along on its feet and it found its way behind a flowerpot and it hid itself there.
And I was really happy it was hidden out the way,
Obviously still recovering.
We couldn't see it anymore.
And again,
We resisted the urge to go out and check on it.
I didn't want to distress it anymore,
But I could see that it was safe now.
It was out of harm's way.
So we left it and we went back to our breakfast.
And probably after about another 20 or 30 minutes,
I just saw a flicker out of the corner of my eye and it was a bird flying.
And it was a split second.
And I thought,
I wonder if that's our little bird.
So I cautiously went outside and looked behind the flowerpot where it had taken sanctuary and it was no longer there.
So I don't know for sure,
But I'm pretty sure that this little bird had flown away.
And I really was so grateful for the lesson that I learned today,
Because living from a place of love in this instance meant that even though I really was strongly drawn to go and scoop up this little bird and rescue it,
That wasn't the right thing to do.
And I listened to a deeper voice of love.
And I listened to that deeper voice of love,
Which instructed me,
Told me,
Nudged me towards allowing this bird to recover in its own time.
Now,
If it hadn't recovered and it needed help,
I would have re-evaluated my actions.
But I deeply knew that me going out to help it would make the situation worse.
So today,
This little bird has had me reflect on maybe the times that I step in too quickly,
Where I try and rescue,
Where I want to help someone.
Now,
It comes from a good place.
It comes from a place of compassion and care.
But actually,
I am being taught today that giving space,
Taking a breath,
Taking a step back,
Allowing time for something to heal naturally without my intervention is probably the better way to go.
That doesn't mean I don't step in and help,
But it means that isn't what I do automatically.
So for me,
My lesson today,
As I've been living from a place of love and rather than fear,
Is to realize that an expression of love is sometimes stepping back.
It's not stepping forward to rescue,
It's stepping back and allowing something to find healing in its own time.
That's what I've learnt today.
I'd love to know how you're getting on as you live from love rather than fear.
Do let me know what you're learning and what you're seeing for yourself in this experiment.
