Dropping in to share a special message I received on my bike ride today.

Recently I was chatting with a friend who, like me, has a sometimes magical association with birds. I have been obsessed at various times in my life with eagles, hawks, and my all-time favorite, the swallow tail kite.

I have been feeling a bit uninspired, so my friend challenged me to look for a sign. For the next week, every time I went outside to pull weeds or walk the dogs or gaze at the sunrise, I looked for a sign. In the air.

But the only sign I kept seeing over and over again was a single white ibis traipsing around the lawns in our neighborhood. I really did not want this to be my sign. For Pete's sake, flocks of these birds are everywhere in Central Florida, moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, aerating lawns, pooping on shingles and driving all the dogs bonkers.

How on earth could the ibis be my sign?

After a few days, I would laugh every time I saw one because sometimes when you need to learn a lesson, it has to slap you right upside the head.

"OK, OK. I give up. The single white ibis is my sign!"

I looked up the meaning of seeing a single white ibis and didn't find anything earth shattering but trusted that my lesson would reveal itself eventually.

Back to my bike ride today.

I had two ibis sightings on my ride today. The first was a group and the second was my new spirit animal, the single white ibis. The two separate encounters couldn't have been more different.

The group of ibis (ibises? ibi?) displayed the typical groupthink behaviors of sticking close to each other, moving in the same direction, reacting to any movement and not really paying attention to their surroundings. They did what the others did. They were in REACTION mode.

The single white ibis I saw was unconcerned about me rolling by on my bike. It didn't move or panic or fly away. It noticed me, but kept pecking away at the grass, doing its thing. It was in ACTION mode.

When I thought about the two ibis encounters, I realized that since I have been working from home, building my own business, I am like the single white ibis, but I was still thinking like an ibis that was part of the group.

I was feeling uncomfortable not having a group close by to help me know what to do, when to move and which way to go. I was waiting for outside stimulus to REACT to.

My new path is based on ACTION not REaction. I make decisions and move with intention. I don't keep my head down, moving when others move, acting when others act. I keep my head up. I focus and move in a direction of my own choosing, with purpose.

I'm not 100% sure why that single white ibis and I are on our own right now. Maybe we just need some time to figure out who we are, away from the flock.

Feeling isolated? Going through a season that you are finding hard to understand or navigate?

Schedule a complimentary 30-minute session today. I'd love to help you talk it through.

Joyfully,

Betsy

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