Bird in the hand

I’m not sure where I first heard the expression “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I don’t think any of my wise elders actually used it, although I wouldn’t have put it past my mother’s Father, he was always spouting off some proverb from one source or another.

Sadly, more often than not, we need to explain what this concept means to our young people, as many of them seem to be completely unable to figure it out on their own anymore. Another artifact of our “modern” educational system.

Basically, we humans tend to overlook the things we have, in pursuit of the things we want, seldom pausing to reflect that the things we already have at hand are sufficient or worthy. We seek the “two in the bush” because we feel that what we don’t have might be better than what we already possess.

For some, it is simply the thrill of the chase, and once the “two in the bush” is obtained, it falls into the category of something we already own, and we are racing off to our next “two in the bush” objective.

Ethan Walmark is a special-needs six-year-old piano prodigy. Apparently he has been playing piano by ear since he was old enough to reach the keyboard. Being the parent of an autistic child must be one of the most difficult things a person is called upon to do, and his mother expresses the concept of “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” beautifully in this article.

I’m guilty of this oversight myself. I grump about growing older, having a bad back, having to fork over a bucket of cash for my daughter’s wedding, or having to get up to go to work each morning. I suppose if you were to ask my partner how much I grump about things, he could come up with a long, long list.

What I forget is that I also have great things in my life that I need to be thankful for, and that I should stop looking around for anything better. I have a wonderful home, maintained mostly by my partner, who has a marvelous sense of how to make it beautiful and how to make it feel and smell like a welcoming place. I am constantly amazed when we have guests and they marvel over how nice our home is when them come in the door. I should stop taking it for granted. It is a very nice home, and it isn’t that way by accident. Thanks John!

I’m still able to get up and go to work, despite my aches and pains. My younger brother has it far worse than I, eating pain pills by the handful, and now unable to work even if he wanted too. This brings up another proverb. “Be careful what you wish for ….” Yes, I want to retire, sooner than later, but it needs to be when I’m ready, and I’m not quite ready yet, so I am thankful that I am still able to work and to continue to prepare for a nice retirement.

I’m also thankful that my daughter has found someone to love, apparently with all her heart, and she is doing what children are supposed to do. She is beginning her own family, with her own set of traditions, doing things her way. Some day she will be a much loved grandmother or great-grandmother, full of grey hair and wisdom. I’ll be long gone by then, but it is comforting to know that part of me will be carried downstream in the river of humanity.

I leave for work about 4:30 in the morning, and the window in my office faces east, so I get to see the sun rising nearly every morning. Colorado isn’t known for having a lot of clouds, so it is rarely obscured, although sometimes a few clouds make the sunrise particularly gorgeous.

I see great things every day and I should stop and acknowledge them more often. I think if we get in the habit of doing that, recognizing the good things we have and paying less attention to the missing “two in the bush”, we’d be a much happier and healthy people.