One Beat Of A Hummingbird’s Wings

Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash

In the grand scheme of things, we are but one beat of a hummingbird’s wings. Our time on this plane is fleeting. Yet, we waste our time holding grudges over slights real and imagined.

This keeps us from telling the people we love that we love them. We feel regret each time a loved one passes, because of the things we neglected to say. And sometimes for the hurtful things we did say.

We should feel contentment — not regret — because that loved one knew we loved them.

I learned this lesson early. My dad died on Christmas Day 1963. I was 11. I’m sure I didn’t tell him that I loved him often enough.

But as the years went by, I didn’t follow through on this lesson fully. I often treated strangers better than I did my family.

I’m not sure why it is easier for us to be kind to a stranger, nor why it is so hard for us to say I love you to the people we see — and love — everyday. But we need to get past it.

Once I married and had children, I realized the true value of relationships with family and good friends. It was them — not a job — that was my real purpose.

Each death of a family member after that reinforced the lesson. My mother died in 2009. She was 91. I was sad but not…