The Recovering Farmer

Friday, May 8, 2015

Oba

My parrot, Oba, who you remember from a few weeks ago, has been very busy the last while talking to me. To the point where I felt like doing something really bad with the parrot. Nothing I could go into detail about on this family show but trust me the parrot would be gone. You see, the messages I was getting was that I did not know how to golf. In fact it was that an idiot like me should not even be out there. The way I was swinging my club looked like, actually didn’t resemble anything. The parrot told me that there was no sport under the sun that incorporated my kind of swing. The parrot led me to believe that he wanted no part of me. Only later did I wonder why he was still there.

And when I got a friendly reminder from friends about writing another blog the parrot started talking again. That parrot, I can’t even call him by his name anymore, told me that the crap I put down on paper is not worth the paper it’s written on. I actually got him there because it is not on paper, it’s on a computer. The parrot told me that I should move on in life. Quit trying to fool people. Because people were not being fooled.

That damn parrot came close to ruining my life. Last night as I awoke at my usual time I decided to get out of bed, wander over to the kitchen for a drink of water and then sit in my recliner and reflect. For a fleeting moment I had to tell myself that I was living the dream. Actually I think Oba was still snoring. It was during that reflection that I was reminded of the fact that I feed the parrot. The parrot is only capable of repeating words it hears. So as much as you would like to hear something positive it probably won’t happen. EXCEPT. . . . .

Do you remember what I said about parrots? They will only say what you say. Thinking about that struck me. Do you mean to say that when that parrot said I was no good at golf it was me actually saying it? And when the parrot told me I had nothing positive to share in a blog it was my own feelings coming through? And when that parrot bemoans the fact that I take my wife, my partner, my kids and my grandkids for granted it is what I am actually thinking? And that if I allow life to happen that could change?

I like that. There is hope. This last Tuesday I played golf and as I stepped up to the first tee I told Oba that I could hit a driver and I could hit the driver right down the middle of the fairway. Through the course of that evening I realized more and more that the thoughts running through my mind, the positives and negatives influenced my life, influenced my game.

I have spoken to numerous people this week. Oh, don’t tell the parrot. He was telling me that I have no work because I am an idiot. Guess what. I was busy this week. I was able to communicate with people in a broad spectrum of life and what life throws at us. It was great. And just for a fleeting moment I got some peace and quiet from Oba. Just for a moment he realized that perhaps I knew what I was doing, just perhaps there were opportunities that I needed to build on. Just perhaps he needed to change his tune. And just perhaps he needed to start being an encouragement. Make it a good one.