“The Birds”
Guest Post by my sister, Trish Carr
Last weekend, while sitting in Bok Gardens in Central Florida, peacefully immersed in nature, my sister, Nancy reminded me about the time she was attacked by a bird every time she used her front door. “There was a nest in the tree right at the entrance to my house,” she reminded me, “and every time I’d come or go it would dive bomb me.” Even now as she was telling me with an uncomfortable smile, I could see it scared her pants off. It’s pretty funny if you think about it. Well, it’s funny to me. After all, she is my little sister and the thought of an itty bitty bird scaring her so much that she puts her arms around her head, hunches her shoulders and runs screaming all the way to the door is as funny as all get out to me. But that’s just me. Anyway, she told me every time she’d come home and start thinking about that bird, her stomach would turn and her chest would pound. She says, “I found out later that the only way a bird will back off is if you stare it down. You’ve gotta look it right in the face and walk by it like you’re queen of the world.”
Hmm. I have little birds that threaten me too. We all do. We’re humans. We have little birds that make us scared, that keep us from going through the door, that hold us back. Those little birds come in the form of limiting thoughts and limiting beliefs that make us want to put our arms over our heads, hunch down and pray we make it through. When those times come, and they do come, whatever little bird is put in your path, remember that just like the black bird that’s protecting it’s nest, your ego is protecting it’s comfort zone. Stare it down, face it fully. Instead of being afraid of it, instead of letting it make your stomach turn and your chest pound, stand up straight and beat that fear with confidence, with strength and with the empowering belief that it’s just a little bird and YOU are Queen of the World!
P.S. by Nancy Matthews (Trish’s little sister)
So what was it about those little birds that scared me so? As I read Trish’s article I realized that the fear that grappled me was deep rooted from childhood. However, I had never been attacked by birds before, so where did this fear come from? It was not based in reality but in the fiction created by the folk tale factory workers in my mind based on a fictional movie … Alfred Hitchcock’s chilling horror film “The Birds.” This was my first ‘horror’ movie and boy was I horrified! At the tender age of 5 or 6 (our most formative years), I saw this fictional movie and it left quite an impression in my subconscious. While I have learned to face my fears and limiting beliefs head on, it wasn’t until this moment that I realized where this particular one came from. Does it matter where it came from? Maybe, maybe not. What I do know is that we must be aware and mindful of the fictional horror stories from our past, whether based in a memory from an experience or a movie — and remember that it is not the thing that happened that shapes us, but instead the story we tell ourselves about what happened.
You are now invited to fire any folk tale factory worker in your mind who tells stories about events both past and present that leave you feeling anything less than “Ruler of the World!” You are the Ruler of your world and get to choose the stories you tell yourself. It’s all made up anyway — why not choose stories that bring you to the top of the mountain? (Unless of course you have a fear of heights, but … we’ll leave that for another conversation.)
To Your Success, Peace & Prosperity
…Creating a Space for Your Infinite Possibilities
Nancy Matthews
Speaker~Author~Success Catalyst
P.S. Join me and hundreds of others in a movement to shift our minds away from lack and fear and into abundance and courage. Go to https://nancymatthews.com/science
P.P.S. And then I just remembered the latest “birds” craze …. Angry Birds!
