I was passing by Bryant Park last week and decided to sit down for a bit. This is the park where Good Morning America does it's summer concerts and just last month they had taken all the grass out and the only thing left was dirt and mud...now they've laid the new grass down and it was so tempting to sit down on the grass BUT my hopes where dashed because they've put ropes around the field so no one can trample on it.

As I was sitting there I saw the above sign "do not walk on the lawn the new sod is establishing it's root system." I started laughing cause last week I had become a bit impatient and that sign reminded me to be patient knowing that I had already planted the right seeds and they will blossom once they have been firmly established.


As I sat there, a few birds didn't pay attention to the sign and they started walking around on the grass. CLEARLY the sign said the grass was offlimits but these birdbrains wouldn't listen to the sign (lol). We all have our bird brains don't we...we've planted new seeds but some people in our lives still insist on walking all over us. In fact MOST of the times WE are the guilty ones (the bird brains?) who trample the new seeds we've laid down instead of just being patient and letting them establish themselves.

As I sat there the strangest thing happened, most of the birds were just walking around the grass here and there looking for food. Then a bird flew down and decided to just SIT THERE. It didn't seem to care about anything except just lying on the grass. As it sat there another bird came along and tried to chase it down...the bird got up and flew to another part of the lawn...and once again just SAT THERE. Once again the other bird chased it down...and once again the bird got up and quietly flew to another spot on the lawn. This same thing happened one or two more times...one bird sitting there while another pestering it till it had to move...but then finally the bird that was pestering the meditative bird just flew away...and the first bird sat there for what must have been like 7 to 10 minutes just taking in the view. It was really neat to see...a bird just lying in the grass while all the other bird brains were running around here and there.

In a way most of us have bird brains in our lives who insist on trampling the new seeds we've laid down...some will see us sitting there and admiring the new life we are creating and they will pester us...when that happens be patient....resist not evil (first bird could have fought or flown away when the second bird began to pester it)...increase the good (the first bird just ignored the pestering bird and found a better spot)...let the seeds you've planted establish themselves...let them GROW.

If you watched last nights Soprano's episode the final scene gives you an idea of how when some people see others trying to lead a better life they will do everything they can to make them fail...as I said before most of the times we are our own worst enemies...but it doesn't have to be that way THIS TIME...resist not evil...increase the good.

Great post, David. Thank you for sharing it with us. You are so right - it is important to honor our choices and our own personal journey and not let other people's opinions of them shut us down. Sometimes I think it takes almost Herculian strength to avoid the energy of the nay sayers, but it is certainly worth it.

These days, I am really concentrating on following what I choose to believe and allowing others to follow what they chose to believe and not getting wrapped up in what people who are not living in the Certain Way have to say.

I, like the little bird in Bryant Park, am simply trying to fly to my own patch of grass where I can enjoy my peace.

Laughter & light,
Pamela

Great post.

I can relate because I saw the very same sign and I got upset because I couldn't go on the grass, but I didn't have any revelations from that until now.

-J

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Originally posted by Julius:
I can relate because I saw the very same sign and I got upset because I couldn't go on the grass, but I didn't have any revelations from that until now.

-J

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Hey Julius;

If you are walking by the past this week...here's something you can do:

see if you can find the "bench of solitude" I think the person who donated it to the library would love to spend a few years there lol.


Hint: it's located on the left side of the lawn when you walk down the steps to the lawn from the water fountain.

Your story reminds me of one my mother used to tell me about a gentleman farmer who was impatient that his crop had not come up and would go out each morning and dig up the seeds to see if they had sprouted. As I grow older I am finally getting a little patience.
Martin