A funny thought hit me as I was sitting outside on campus in between classes – we have so much in common with hummingbirds! Now before you LOL and literally think I’m insane, hear me out. As I was enjoying some Chick-fil-a before class started, I looked up from my phone and dazed off into a flower patch near me, and for once saw more than just the flowers.

Fluttering from flower to flower were five hummingbirds enjoying a lunchtime snack. Hummingbirds have always amazed me, but something about seeing them in a place that was so familiar (and having never noticed them there before) really stood out. I watched them for about fifteen minutes, and it hit me – we have so much in common with them!

1. They are completely unaware of how truly beautiful they are.

If you have ever really looked closely at a hummingbird, their feathers are a shiny teal hue. When the sun hits them just right, their feathers literally gleam. These birds have no idea how beautiful they are! In the same way, neither do we. Society as a whole seems to set worldly standards for what defines “beautiful”, and so many of us buy into this definition of what beauty is. Confidence is beauty. Strength is beauty. Kindness is beauty. I’m convinced beauty is a reflection of a heart condition. When we love, we are beautiful. But we tend to not recognize how beautiful we truly are because we are so wrapped up in what our world thinks is beautiful. You are beautiful.

2. They are wrapped up inside their own little world.

The hummingbirds I watched could have cared less about what was going on outside their flower patch. These five were playfully chasing each other, stopping for snacks here and there, would fly high into the sky just to swoop back down gracefully and were just enjoying life. Similarly to us, they were wrapped up inside their own little world. We live in a world that is always undergoing problems. Our world is broken. Our people are hurting. But until tragedy strikes, or we are woken up in some similar way, we are so focused about what is going on inside our own little world. What if our eyes were opened to the hurting people of this world? To the grace and change of nature? To the world.

3. They are always on the move.

I have actually never seen a hummingbird completely still. Even when they land, they still fidget. We do the exact same thing! Unless we are sleeping (or watching Netflix) we are always moving. If we are not physically moving, our minds are. There is something beautiful about always being on the go, seeing new things, places, people. But there is also beauty in rest. And so often we do not allow ourselves to simply rest. It feels wrong to not be going a thousand miles a minute; we feel guilty if we are not constantly on the move. But what if we were unapologetic for resting? I think lives would be changed people.

Make time to stop and watch the birds. Let your mind wander. And always eat Chick-fil-a!