Robin is often the first to rise and the last to stop singing, sometimes far into the night. Robin proudly wears a red ribbon for coming in first in many of life’s olympic feats. According to the Online Etymological dictionary, as far back as the 1530’s Robin was referred to as the “sportive elf of the English countryside.”
She is among the first to mate and lay eggs in the early spring, first to leave the nest only after a mere two weeks in the egg and two weeks growing and learning to fly. She is also the first to sing her cheerful song at dawn. All avian athletes must excel at endurance and, at this, Robin is also a winner. Once she starts crooning her complex and beautiful tune in March, she doesn’t stop until the end of summer. Then, she switches gears and let’s her wings express her heart’s song: she flies as far as a thousand miles to the finish line, where she is greeted by a roaring crowd of other migrating birds and sunshine.
Robin tells us to waste no time and to pursue our goals with luster. Whether she hops across green lawns in pursuit of fat earthworms (eating as much as 14 feet of worms a day), builds the quintessential nest of grass, paper, string, mud and feathers, or defends her blue eggs by dive-bombing pesky predators, she approaches each task with spunk and confidence. Her life span is, on average, only two years, but she makes the most of her fluttery time on this wondrous Earth, and reminds us to do the same.
If the dog days of summer have you feeling sluggish, or procrastination makes you lag behind other winners, let Robin be your coach. Place pictures of her around your bedroom, or better yet: go bird watching or make a bird house/nesting platform and place it high up in a shady tree in your yard. You are sure to be visited by inspiration and diligence this spring, if not the red breasted thrush herself!
