One of the benefits of NOT sleeping is I have my wonderful Guides to keep me company.  Last night in the small hours as per normal I asked for a spirit story.   I love them, I hope you do as well.  There is always a moral, always an understanding and always in small ways applicable to situations or events that are happening in the world or in my immediate world.   I feel truly blessed to be able to pass these stories on.  So in the light of the night, when my world sleeps, spirit whispers.....

There once was a small red bird, tiny, iridescently red, with the lightest down feathers, bright black eyes, who lived in the very tops of the trees of the Rain Forest.   She would flit from tree top to tree top, sampling the flavours of the large tree flowers that grew at the very tops of the highest trees.  The nectar of these flowers, like velvety honey, was her favourite food.   She was a plucky little bird, for fun, she would soar into the skies until her heart pounded and then she would drop like a stone, open her wings and spiral back down to the Rain forest tops.  It was exhilarating, it inspired her enjoyment of her world.

One day as she was flitting amongst the flowers, a wise old bird mentioned to her that a storm was coming and it would be best if she moved down from the tree tops as the storm would be one of the strongest ones in years.  The little bird stared at him.  "I am not afraid of the wind, of the storm.  I will fly on the storms back, race in the wind and plummet down to my tree tops, it will be amazing!".   The wise old bird said "Very well, but remember, this is YOUR choice, if you take this risk".   The little bird sniffed.  "I am not afraid of a storm".

Early in the next morning the sky began to darken, the winds began to blow and the other birds started to move down the tree tops to safer areas of the Rain forest.    The stubborn little red bird, viewed the sky darkening and said to herself, "It is only a storm, I will fly on its back and show everyone it is not as bad as it seems".    She flew up into the strengthening winds as high as she could fly.  The wind whipped around her, pulled harshly at her wings and spun her around and around in the sky.  She fought to stay stable but the sky darkened and the winds dragged at her and spun her again into the darkening sky.   As the winds pull and sucked at her, sapping her strength, and dragging her further into the sky, she wished that she had of listened to the wise old bird after all.   As the wind relentlessly dragged her skyward, the little bird gave up fighting and was lost in the storm.

The storm raged and moved relentlessly over the land, creating devastation and loss as it travelled.  Once it had lost it's momentum, as all things do, the winds ceased to blow and the skies cleared.   A little red bird was released from the wind, and plummeted down from the heights to the trees below.    Exhausted, she sheltered on a branch until she had recovered.  She looked around her, nothing was the same, the trees, the landscape all completely different, completely foreign to her.  The little red bird had no idea where she was.  She huddled on the branch in the shade of the tree for a whole day.  She regretted her actions, wished she had of listened to the wise old bird.   As she sat on the branch, she realised she had a choice.   

She could sit on the branch, be isolated and alone, not find out where she was and eventually die or she could choose to venture out into her new world and make it her own. In her mind, the wise old bird whispered "Seize the opportunities that life presents in the strangest ways".   She ruffled her feathers, stepped out into the light.  She knew it took courage to fly up high into the sky and spiral down.  She would have enough courage to make the most of her choice and make the very best of the change that had been presented to her.  With that the little red bird flew up into the sky until her heart soared and then she plummeted down, into her new home.  There were friendships to make, things to be seen, all were new opportunities and new beginnings, she realised she was wise enough to see these not as regrets but as new choices and she would make the most of every one.  She had the choice to accept the changes and make the very most of them, she could do that, she had survived the storm, she would accept the challenge of life and soar again.

Matthias, ever-present, thank you!

Sometimes in this world, we feel like we travel along perpetually pulled this way, that way, out of control as life takes us, like the wind, in every which way.   There will always be choices, there is never not choices, it is OUR ability to deal with these choices, changes and learn to accept the choices we made.  What we forget is that WE have the ability to choose, not just be blown by the winds of life.   At any given point, if you are not happy in the life that you are in, you have the ability to change it.  If you cannot change it, then the Universe, like the storm, will bring change to challenge and help you to grow.  With these changes we cannot see, the best thing is to see it again as presenting new choices and new opportunities.  No regrets, we cannot hold onto the past or things that we have outgrown.   Soar high into the winds of life, find your inspiration, know your choices are limitless and FLY!