A Little Bird Told Me

I normally eat smaller, healthy meals and I stop eating after dinner so I can get in my evening walk and then relax before bedtime.  One recent evening, we ate a larger meal and we ate later than usual.  Such a departure from my regular schedule caused me to wake up in the middle of the night with the heavy feeling that I had somehow swallowed a basketball.  After tossing for an hour, I finally got up, moved to my favorite comfy chair in the living room, and with the sun porch windows open to give me fresh air, I read while wrapped up in a quilt.  At 4:23 a.m., my reading was interrupted by one lone bird who decided it was time to sing.  Soon, he or she was joined by others and soon after that, there was a full bird chorus.  I turned off the light and sat in the darkness, surrendering to the early morning birdsong.  I soon realized that the basketball in my stomach had gone away and I fell asleep in my comfy chair.  When I awakened a couple of hours later, the birds were still singing, though in the daylight, I didn't react as much to the intensity of their song.  That one lone bird singing away in the darkness was all I needed to feel better.  I couldn't help but wonder how often I allow myself to be that one lone bird singing in the darkness, bringing hope and centering to another.  Lesson learned.