Be a Chickadee

The red-tailed hawk is the apex predator in the skies of north Georgia. But just the other day, as I was sitting on my porch, I saw a small chickadee attack one. Chickadees are tiny, weighing less than an ounce, and they lack the hawk’s talons or sharp beak. But here was this enormous hawk, beating its wings as hard as it could, trying to escape the aggressive ball of fluff chasing after it.

Surely the chickadee knew it wouldn’t be able to leave a scratch on the hawk? Maybe the chickadee knew but didn’t care. Perhaps whatever the hawk threatened was so important in the chickadee’s mind that their actual sizes didn’t matter.

In this life, we face troubles that sometimes seem so much bigger than we are. Some people run when this happens. Then sometimes, people find what the chickadee had; something bigger than their problems. That tiny bird was protecting its nest. And the courage the chickadee showed not only saved its family, but its own life, too.

At the first sign of weakness, that hawk would have turned on the little bird. But with courage bold, the chickadee stood firm and faced its problems head on.

So when life rages, and it will, look to the example of the chickadee. Because the hawks of this world don’t care how big you are, they only care how big you act. Find that thing in your life that is bigger than anything the world can throw at you, and hold onto it when hard times come. When hawks are at your door, be a chickadee.