Busy as a Bee

     The past few days have been so busy. I'm sure this is a common feeling for everyone, and I say it all the time, but it seems to be especially true this time. I've been constantly buzzing, almost literally flying from one event to the next and even when I'm at home I bustle around cleaning, working and just generally being busy. So often when I get busy I forget to step back and take a look at all the wonderful gifts God has given me, especially animals.

     I have many pets and I adore animals so it's only natural for one of the trips I made this week to have been to the pet store. I promise I was actually doing something important, not just gawking at animals and begging mom to let me take them home. Anyway, seeing all the small animals they had for sale got me thinking.

     We, as human beings, are constantly worrying about the future or stressing over the past. We do not live in the present, we live online, on the television, through the phone, but never in the moment. Looking at the hamsters for sale at the petstore, I thought to my myself how nice it would be to be a hamster. An animal in the petstore doesn't not have a terribly easy life, they get moved and handled so often at strange hours during the day/night depending on whether they're nocturnal or not. But they do not sit and worry about what comes next. They don't speculate all the horrible things that could happen or all the things that they have to do, they simply live in the moment as it comes. 

     For example, I was watching the sweetest little hamster sleep in a pile of other hamsters. He suddenly woke up and noticed me. It took him quite a while to finally leave his nest and come see what I was doing on the other side of the glass. But, once he came out, he didn't seem so bothered that a giant was staring in at him. He waddled on his way, finding some food and another warm nest. 

     

      Often I will freeze when faced with a giant. I'll sit and I'll panic, thinking of all the terrifying things that could happen to me, when really the giant isn't gonna do me any harm. Instead of focusing and accomplishing the little yet important task I already had in front of me, I will waste all my time on what could happen. I need to wake up, snap out of it, and see what's happening now. Not that I shouldn't be aware of what I should be ready for, but here and now is immensely more important than tomorrow's maybe. 

     Today I am especially thankful for all the amazing lessons I have learned and have yet to learn from animals. Somehow, they seem to know what they're doing a whole lot better than me. God didn't make me a bee for a reason, I guess. So pause, take a deep breath, pet the family dog/cat/rabbit/horse, and focus on the present. Simple take everything as it comes. Worrying will only make it worse, and smiling will definitely make it better.