A little one stopped at my door this morning. In the distance his father stood with face flushed red; holding the anger of a child who “just hadn’t listened.”

The little one shifted nervously before he began, “Miss Tara…I accidentally broke your bird feeder.”

I looked to the garden, noting the shards of glass amongst scattered seed. A feeder that had served valiantly through the tests of wind and storm and fattened squirrel had proved no match to a little one’s curiosity.

“He’ll pay for it,” the father chimed. “From his own money, I assure you.”

His face pitched as he held back the tears, “I’m sorry, Miss Tara – I didn’t mean to.”

I knelt down, taking his hand and smiling warmly in return. “I know, silly – accidents are NEVER on purpose.”

We all mistakes. Even the Buddha, as he starved himself to alleviate the “pain of ample luxury” – he, too, made the mistake of over-compensation. He deprived himself for the sake of spirituality – thinking ‘less’ was ‘more’ on this path to freedom.

I thought of the story as I looked down into this little one’s eyes – tortured in the wake of having made one simple ‘mistake’.

How easily we discount this aspect of authenticity, as we reconcile the burden of having been ‘wrong.’ As mind straggles to assign label – foolish, careless, overbearing – our sense of self becomes unforgivably rigid. We lose our way along this path of being human.

In doing so, we become less accommodating to the ‘faults’ of others; assigning blame before extending these lessons of willingness and acceptance.

“Their food got stuck,” he said, pointing to a blockage of seed and spent peanut ‘casings’. “I just wanted to try and fix it.”

“Oh, thank you,” I smiled, knowing instantly the resolution. “I’ve had a new one for months, but haven’t been able to remove the old one.”

We spent the next few moments, installing the new feeder. As the birds gathered, biding anticipation I winked and said;

“You see, to some a mistake – to others, a blessing.”

There’s an opportunity for sharing in all, my loves ~ though we must take measure to thoughtfully encourage.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️