HAPPINESS is watching birds and listening to them sing early in the morning.
A morning is not just a symbol of hope but also a source of melodious joy accessible to everyone willing enough to wake up to it.
Like many people, I once used to wake up in the morning at an hour that gave me just enough time to get done with everything I needed to before heading to work. And then one day I decided to change things around and wake up earlier to get more out of my mornings.
I started to wake up early and head either to my balcony or the terrace of my house, to sit for a while and breathe in the morning. Mornings are poetic creatures, there is so much joy to be received from them especially from birds who are out early singing songs as they go about their lives.
As I sat and watched them for many-a-morning, I began to grow fond of them so much so that now, mornings for me are about looking forward to watching them and listening to birdsong. As I watch them, I realise that they are as alive as us. They are born, nurtured with care and grow into beings who love, age and shed their bodies one day. They have families too,and feel fear and awe just like us.
Listening to them is a lesson in gratitude for me. They remind me that I'm alive, beautiful, capable of flying but also at the mercy of this planet. Watching them is a reminder that I must choose to stand on humble ground for I’m simply a product of this world, capable of love but also of being ungrateful, entitled and a burden on this planet. I must choose the former every day I wake up, like birds do, and sing like them so I can be a medium of joy to everyone around me.
Many people are born in cities and don't have access to nature such as forests, lakes, rivers, mountains or beaches. Instead they have concrete structures, roads, buses, cars and an endless array of humans, to behold. I speak especially to these people-
Rise to the beauty of the morning and take out a few minutes to absorb the joy it has to offer. You may not have mountains to admire but you do have birds, and their music to hear.
Rise to their music. Rise to the possibility of joy. :)