A few days ago I went into my kitchen and found a bird trapped.
I say trapped but the kitchen door was open. True, there was a wrought iron gate in front of the door but this had spaces more than big enough for the bird to pass through. In fact that was the only way that the bird could have got into the kitchen in the first place.
The poor bird had obviously been trying to get out for some time because there were little bird feathers and bird poop on the kitchen counters.
I was not happy about this.
I tried shooing the bird in the direction of the door but each time the stupid bird would fly about frantically in the opposite direction.
After a while I decided to just clean the counters and go about my work – all the time talking aloud to the bird, trying to explain to him why it was not a good idea to fly about aimlessly and pointing out the door over and over.
But instead, every once in a while the bird would leave his perch on the rafters and start to fly about agitatedly again.
I got fed up of this after a while and decided to take a mop and wave it about – hoping to force him out the door. This only made him more agitated of course and caused more feathers to fly around.
Eventually, I had an idea.
I went and opened the wrought iron gate and walked back and forth through the door, all the while saying – Look Bird, this is the door!! You can go out here!!
And after the third time, the bird simply flew out the door behind me.
I stood at the kitchen counter thinking – Hmmm…. How many times in my life I have been like the bird – frantically beating up and stressing out, feeling trapped – even when there was a way out right in front of me. No amount of coaxing, forcing, or lecturing could make me see the open door. What helped was someone gently showing me the way.