Have you seen the meme, I am not an early bird or a night owl, I am some form of permanently exhausted pigeon?  I love this meme, as a mother of four school age children, this resonates with me.  The days of being woken by babies are still fresh in my memory.  Even though my children are sleeping through the night, I have found this season of lockdown and COVID has impacted on my sleep.  I feel like a permanently exhausted pigeon.  Thank goodness for coffee!

Life is a little crazy at the moment and that is probably putting it mildly.  We are in a constant state of flux with changing rules and restrictions and at them same time we are sick of starring at the same four walls.  (For clarification, I am in Victoria, Australia.  Now known as the most lockdown city in the world, yay!)  This does crazy things to our brains and nervous system; we are in constant fight/flight/fright mode and it is exhausting.

How do we endure life when it is hard?

Hummingbirds are a symbol for endurance. They can fly 1300 miles (over 2000 kilometres) when they migrate even though they are the smallest of the bird species.  Now that’s endurance!  Hummingbirds live on the edge of death all the time with a fast metabolism they need to consume half their weight in sugar daily.  They can fly a long way just to get enough food and nectar to sustain themselves, but they never give up. 

These birds are designed for the job:

• they are the only vertebrates capable of sustained hovering and can fly backwards and upside down. 
• They have the fewest amount of feathers of any bird species in the world to make them lightweight for easier flight. 
• They also have smaller feet to make them lighter. 
• Thirty percent of their muscle mass is in their chest; they can beat their wings 52 times per second.  Their heart beats 1,200 beats per minute. 
• Their wings move in a figure of eight motion or like the infinity symbol.  This helps them hover like a Dragonfly.

What can we learn from these amazing creatures?

1. Throw off anything that is holding you back.  Shed the dead weight.  This might be bad habits, bad relationships, bad debt or just too much stuff.  Making big changes to your life might be overwhelming, don’t look at the whole picture, just start with one small step.  Then you take the next small step and so on.  Before you know it, you have travelled as far as a migrating Hummingbird.
2. You were designed for the job.  You were born for such a time as this.  The world needs you, you are unique, there is no one else like you.  Even identical twins are not completely identical.  You have so much potential.  You might be the next Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr. or Florence Nightingale. Or maybe your purpose is to smile at the next person you see.  Find something that you are passionate about, that brings you joy and do that thing.
3. Put your energy into what is going sustain you.  What makes you come alive?  Is it working on a creative project?  Is it taking a walk with a friend?  Listening to music or reading a good book?  Do the things that give you life, not suck it out of you.
4. Savour the nectar.  Look back on your day and be grateful, even if it is a small thing such as “I’m still alive”.  Practicing gratitude actually changes the way your brain works.
5. Don’t lose hope (the next flower is just around the corner).  I read the other day this quote “People don’t die from depression; they die from hopelessness”.  That hit me like a 2×4.  Think about that for a minute, let it really sink in.  Hope can be a fragile thing.  When we put our hope in people, things, plans or money; our hope can be taken away.  There is a hope that cannot be taken away, a living hope.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

1 Peter 1:3-6 NIV

This hope is a living thing, it grows and matures and gives birth to joy and peace.

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NIV

This hope is a gift, given freely.  It is not earnt by hard work or earnestness.  Anyone can have this hope that can not be shaken by putting their trust in Jesus.

How can we endure life when it is hard?  We need to care for our whole self; body, mind and spirit.  Learn from those who have overcome.  Make small changes and don’t stop.  If you regress, start again with another small step.  Don’t listen to the voice that says “I can’t”, keep holding on and ask for help if you are struggling.  Find joy in the simple things.  Be thankful. Find out what you are passionate about, and then do something with it.  Hold onto to hope and don’t let go.