Life Lesson From A Resilient Robin

A few days after I saw a robin attempting to build a nest on a neighbor’s balcony in my apartment building, I spotted another robin with a chest covered in mud. I was thrilled, as I knew this meant a little miracle of life was going to happen. And, it did. Three days later, she laid her clutch of tiny blue eggs in a nest built in a perennial shrub, next to the complex entry way where residents come and go all day.

Her strategy for building the nest in such a busy location became apparent two days after she had laid her eggs. A pack of savage crows descended on the nest, tragically cutting her clutch in half. Unlike the other robins, she had built her nest here so that she could potentially depend on human activity for added protection. Sadly, her plan failed.

Crows are one of the most intelligent bird species on the planet. They know and remember their potential enemies and prey. She may have cleverly built her nest here, hoping to avoid them because there are constantly humans around, but keeping crows away can be a real challenge, because of their intelligence and their adaptability. Things that scare them off at first, soon does not bother them anymore.

The crows were however the least of the strategic robin’s problems. After the crow rampage, the landscaping crew came through the property, using a weed whacker on the shrub where her nest was located. I later found her outside. Assuming she was traumatized and stress-foraging, I felt really sad for her. But she stared at me questioningly, then flew into a tree, while I feebly tried to console her. “All your efforts have been in vain,” I sadly thought while looking at her.

But this little force of nature was not having any of it!

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself ~ D.H. Lawrence

“We robins cannot afford the indulgence of self-pity. Most of us do not even survive for much longer than a year,” she silently conveyed, as she gazed back at me and flicked her tail feathers. “My species has been facing these struggles of survival for millions of years, and yet we are still here to herald the beginning of spring every year, and to sing joyfully to the world every morning before the sun rises.”

Well, this wise, resilient little robin certainly brought me a valuable life lesson. She reminded me that on our life journey we will encounter many setbacks, hurdles, obstacles and disappointments. Does this mean our journey is a failure or disaster? Never. Will it ever get better? Yes, it certainly will, just like the glorious rainbow that appeared after the recent heavy rain.

Every step of the way we may experience tug downs from dark energies and destructive forces, just like those crows who stole the robin’s eggs. However, surrendering to such dark, negative energies and feeling defeated by toxic people and unwanted events, turns us into victims of circumstance. And the longer we remain in this defeated state, the more it will ruin our happiness and ultimately keep us trapped as an emotional slave in an open prison of our own making.

Adversity and contrast are natural components of our journey upward. We did not choose to incarnate in physical form because life would be easy, simple, idyllic…and terminally boring. It takes hard work, courage, and sacrifice to accumulate expanded spiritual insight, wisdom, and enlightenment for our soul evolution. And without life’s challenges and struggles we will also never experience true joy, happiness, or fulfillment. How will we know what a moment of true bliss feels like, if we have never experienced any hardship or suffering? What will we compare the good times to, if there have never been any bad times for us?

Self-pity is the most negative quality of the human spirit. Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter ~ Jon M. Huntsman Sr.

Even the robin, an omnivore, ensures its nutritional survival by eating the bitter flesh of insects and earthworms, rotting crabapples, and even unpalatable juniper berries, while at other times delighting in the sweet taste of nuts and juicy fruit ripening on the trees. It all depends on the season.

It is no accident the robin traditionally symbolizes hope, renewal and rebirth. Like the robin we must bravely continue to soar the heavens and pursue our soul purpose by achieving calm clarity, faith, courage and resilience.

And once we realize that in the end we are no better or worse off than any other human being, we erase the terrors of fear, greed, discrimination, heartlessness, and cruelty. Instead of wishing evil on others, who wrong or harm us, we should instead continue to envision our own success, achievement, and fulfillment. The only true revenge in this life is not to ‘get even,’ but instead to get successful and happy!