Hummingbird

Hummingbird story

One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest. A huge

woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging wild fire.

Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out

of the forest.

As they came to the edge of a stream, they stopped to

take a breath and watch the fire. The more they

watched, the more discouraged and powerless they felt.

They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes.

Every one of them thought there was nothing they could

do about the fire except for one little hummingbird.

This particular hummingbird, though frightened, decided

it would do something.

So it swooped down into the stream, picked up a few

drops of water in its beak, then flew into the forest and

dropped them on the fire. Then it went back to the

stream and did it again and kept going back to the

stream flying to the fire and dropping the drops of water

on the fire.

All the other animals watched in disbelief and some tried

to discourage the little bird with comments like

“don’t bother. It is too much. You are too little to help.

Your wings will burn…your beak is too tiny. There’s

nothing you can do

And as the animals stood around disparaging the little

birds efforts, the bird noticed how forlorn and helpless

they all looked. The one of the frustrated animals

shouted at the little bird as the bird headed back to the

river, and mocked him saying.

“Just what do you think you are doing”

And the little hummingbird without wasting time or

losing a beat, looked back and said

“I am doing what I can”

Today, let’s focus on simply doing what we can…..with

what we can….when we can….and where we can.

Let’s connect with the hummingbird and learn from her.

Most bird’s wings flap only up and down.

Similiarly, most people do things in small limited ways.

But The hummingbird is not like most birds.

We are not like most people.

The hummingbird can rotate its wings and is able to

move them in a figure eight pattern. The figure eight

pattern is the symbol of infinity…linking past and future

in the center present. A powerful symbol for women

through out the centuries and especially for women here

today in recovery

The word infinity is taken from the latin …..infinitas

which means unboundedness and endless.

Before recovery, our bodies minds and spirits were

bound in the chains of addiction and dysfunction.

In recovery, we have come to believe in a HP who is

greater than ourselves, our world, our customs our

“everythings”

We now know that our time here is finite but our spirit

when given into the loving care of our HP exists in his

love forever, infinitely.

On my own, my life is finite, yet with God, each moment

of this life is filled with infinite possibility and unlimited

potential.

In a world filled with distraction and complications, the

infinity symbol reminds us to seek balance, focus,

harmony, peace, oneness, simplicity, which by the way,

are all characteristics of a hummingbird.

Is there an area or situation in your life that needs you to

focus with spiritual glasses of love.

Is there an area of your life where discord has been

raging,….( maybe you have even been contributing to the

discord)……and the infinity symbol can remind you to

bring Gods peace.

Is there a place in your life filled with too much of

something and it needs the grace of simplicity?

Is there a relationship in your life that needs sounds of

harmony not hatred?

The hummingbird inspires me to remember that there is

more than one way to fly….to pray…..to love…..to

parent….to work….to live, when I remember to live

according to the truth of my endless connection to my

Higher Power.

Where in your recovery life do you now realize you

need to fly differently? Soberly? Truthfully?

Where in your life are you feeling trapped by the

expectations that others have of you to be like them?

Where in your life are you feeling trapped by the

expectations you have of yourself to be like others?

In the bird world, most birds cannot do figure eight flying

because they were simply not made that way.

Like the hummingbird, we were born with the promise of

grace that provides us ways of doing and being that

might not have been forecast for us.

We have the ability to choose how we will fly. Though

we might sometimes feel stuck in our homes, our jobs,

our physical bodies, we have never lost the ability to

choose how we will fly.

In the story, the hummingbird was willing and ready to

fly towards its goal, regardless of the outcome.

Do you have a dream, a goal, that you are willing to

work for, no matter what form that flight might take?

Is there something you always dreamed of doing but

didn’t because…….?

Have you let age, education, family, money, define you?

Are you living in a prison of restriction or in the freedom

of hope?

An interesting fact about hummingbirds is that they can

hover. Hovering in a spiritual sense is being present, not

in the fray, but directly above it.

The hummingbird hovers to get perspective…to see the

bigger picture…to conserve energy….but NOT to control.

Is there someone or something who needs your

hovering not your smothering?

I teach people when they encounter a trigger situation,

to fly above it for a minute before reacting.

For some of us that is as simple as saying the serenity

prayer when we are triggered.

Do you say the prayer before reacting, before running

full speed ahead into control mode? Fear mode?

Have you forgotten how powerful that prayer is?

Hovering is not landing. Hovering is not staying there.

Hovering is not obsessing or worrying. Hovering is not

stopping out of fear or indecision

Hovering is pausing for a moment to pray…to center…to

love unconditionally…to get perspective….Gods

perspective.

Where do you need to get some perspective?

How will you do that?

In the Big Book there is a line that says. “we have lost all

perspective and therefore all genuine humility”

The definition of humility is “knowing the truth of who I

am”

I am a woman who is deeply connected to her creator,

a woman who wants to find wonder in this life, a woman

who is the feminine spirit of God walking on this earth.

What is the humble truth of you?

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying. We cannot solve our

problems with the same thinking we used when we

created them.

Another quote says: What you see depends not only on

what you are looking at but also where you are looking

from.

These quotes speak about perspective and we in this

room are blessed with the perspectives of 12 step

recovery.

The tiny hummingbird in the story was able to hover over

the forest. In doing so she could see the distress of the

animals as they panicked at the fire. Her perspective on

the situation inspired her to do something of peace and

hope rather than panic and despair.

Is there a fire raging somewhere in your life that needs

you to stop…..hover…..and then give from your essence

which is the endless love and grace of God.

The hummingbird also symbolizes flexibility and

lightness. It can move quickly…change direction

flexibly…glide from one place to another….or bend

backward to accommodate the current circumstances

without breaking its back in the process.

I especially need to be reminded of the last few words:

Without breaking its back in the process.

The hummingbird reminds me to BE FLEXIBLE. FLY

LIGHT…..hover for a moment…to get perspective then

choose to live in gratitude, trust and hope.

Flexibility and Flying light mean being unburdened by

plans, expectations, resentments, pessimism. When I fly

with those things, I am flying straight into disease. I miss

God’s miracles because I am forgetting who is really

running the Ann show. (And it’s not Ann.)

Have you missed opportunities because you were

paying attention to someone else’s flying and not

enough to your own journey?

Have you been flying (another word for living) with

frustration or with anger? Have you been flying, living,

carrying around stuff from the past that doesn’t matter

in today?

Another fact about hummingbirds is that they must stop

frequently to feed at a flower, even while migrating.

They don’t go very far on a fill up and don’t all need a fill

up at the same time.

Do you honor your need to stop frequently?

And when you have to stop is it with reverence for your

body or frustration with your body?

Most birds fly in formation during migration because

aerodynamically it gives birds an updraft and makes it

easier to fly. Hummingbirds fly alone or with one or two

others because they just don’t have enough body mass

to make a wake in the air currents for others.

Do you need to fly with everyone else or can you fly

your own path with a trusted few supporting you?

Are you struggling to fly in someone else’s formation

even though you don’t have the strength or desire to do

it? Who are you trying to be like?

What formation have you been flying in that just

doesn’t work for you anymore? (working, spending,

partying)

Do you need to design or create a new formation to fly

in?

The pandemic changed so much about our lives. And

some people are still bemoaning all those things that

have changed. What if we stop looking at what was…

and start to create new habits, new ways of doing, new

ways of connecting, new ways of thinking?

When we first entered program, we had to change so

many of the ways we had been living.

How did you manage to do all that?

One thing was we had to stop going it alone. We had to

surround ourselves with people who challenged and

supported and inspired us.

Today who is challenging and supporting you?

The hummingbird flies with its head up, looking forward.

Most birds fly with their heads down looking at the

ground. Now we’ve seen the ground. We know what’s

there….and focusing on the ground, or even worse

staying there….. is not good for birds like us.

So today we will fly, walk, with our heads up….looking for

freedom and goodness to fly with us.

Today we will fly with our heads up….free of shame and

regret…free of fear and scarcity

Today we will walk with our heads up, welcoming all of

life…instead of trying to protect ourselves against it.

No longer will we focus on the ground, resigned to live a

life we were not born for. No longer will we believe we

belong on the ground with all the thrown away stuff.

Where in your life have you been focusing on fear,

worry shame instead of living life fully?

The hummingbird story has a lot to teach us.

First, it teaches us to stop and watch what is

happening….to get quiet on the inside….to find our

center and then to act from there regardless of what

others think about us.

The animals in the story were bemoaning the destruction

and focusing on fear. They were standing at the stream

holding on to negativity and helplessness.

The little bird watched the destruction also and I’m sure

she was as horrified and scared as the others.

But she let the negativity go….she dropped it at the

shoreline and in its place picked up a few drops of water.

Second it teaches us to take time to understand the

problem not just our reaction to the problem.

For the animals it meant standing by helpless, losing all

hope and falling into despair and anger.

For the bird, it meant taking an action, as small and

simple as that action might be. Because the action was

an action of hope and love and compassion and faith.

Third, it reminds us to refuse feelings of worthlessness,

smallness and shame. It reminds us that we are capable

of acts of love, even when those acts are small and

maybe unnoticed. Reminds us that we are capable of

changing the world, one drop at a time and maybe

capable of inspiring others to join us in our quest,

because together we can do what we could not do alone.

Fourth it reminds us to do one thing, one small thing at

a time with the hope that each small act will build our

courage and faith. It reminds us to keep it simple.

Maybe your one small thing is to pray with others in a

zoom prayer meeting.

Maybe your one small thing is to let go of things that no

longer fit you physically giving them to a charity for

others no so fortunate

Maybe your one small thing is to walk away when the

negativity starts

Maybe your one small thing is to stand up for those who

are being persecuted.

Maybe your one small thing is to cook meals for

neighbors

Maybe your one small thing is to plant a garden.

What could be your one small thing?

Fifth. Believe in yourself

When others make fun of your efforts, put you down,

doubt you or frighten you, give the discomfort to God.

God knows you, they don’t always know you and

sometimes they are speaking from their own fear and

smallness.

You are so much more than fear, despair, shame

You are the feminine face of God.

Sixth…Love the process and live the process.

Remember to be grateful for whatever little you can do,

whatever small choice you can make. Prayer of St

Theresa says “May my hands be your hands, may my

words be your words, may you work and speak in the

world through me.”

Seventh..Be flexible

It may seem paradoxical to detach from the outcome

while you are setting goals and working towards

them…but it is the only way. Remember Let Go and Let

God?

Finally the hummingbird story reminds me that we all

have a fire raging somewhere in our lives or maybe an

old fire smoldering, just waiting to erupt.

Some of those fires we can put out and some we cannot.

But in every one of those fires, we can simply do what we

can…trusting the grace is in the action, not the outcome.

The hummingbird was totally in the present

She realized the rudeness of the other animals was

coming from their fear and anxiety, not from

maliciousness. And her prayer of forgiveness to them

was in her actions not her words.

She knew her actions might not put out the fire but she

also knew her actions were not wasted.

If even one drop of water, helped an animal to feel less

despair, she knew at the end that she did what she could

do.

What is the one thing you can do?