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The Early Bird Right off the bat, I’ll tell you that I am not a morning person. I loved my Dad more than life, but I’m still angry at him for getting me up early one morning to “hear the crack of dawn.” And I really don’t give a flying flip if the “early bird gets the worm.” However, I am a late night roamer which probably explains why I am not healthy, wealthy, or wise – you know…” early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” So you probably can ascertain that I have seen a lot more sunsets than sunrises in my lifetime. However, circumstances of life (not wealthy) have brought me to the place where I must be an early riser in order to get to work at the time the bank has deemed appropriate. Forget “banker’s hours” – that is just a myth. And since the wellness plan people have decided that I have too much body fat (not healthy,) I have been rising even earlier in order to take a morning walk before work. Now if I had played it smart (not wise,) I would have found a job where I could …no I would have gotten a better settlement when I shed my 35 year marriage so that I could sleep late, loll around in bed gaining even more body fat (the queen was in the parlor eating bread and honey,) but I didn’t and such is life. So, one morning last week, I struggled out the door, squinting through the sand in my eyes at the sun rising through the trees, just in time to see it happen – “the early bird getting the worm.” Now this expression that we have all heard time and again promoting the wisdom of being an early riser – that the lucky person is the one who gets there first suggesting that the late-comer is slovenly and lazy – suddenly took on new meaning for me. Who the heck was lucky here? Yeah, the bird. But, what about the worm? He was probably living by the old adage of “healthy, wealthy, and wise,” and in the process became breakfast for the bird. Not too healthy, wealthy, or wise for him I would say. Therefore, I conclude that not all the expressions that we tend to take for the gospel truth can be worn as a “one size fits all.” That has never worked for me either – I find that “one size fits all” only applies to people who are all the same size, (the ultimate goal of the people at the wellness center) but that is a subject for another time. What if I am the worm and not the bird? Wouldn’t it be wiser for me to ignore the alarming crow of the rooster, stay underground at least long enough for all the early birds, to sing up the sun, eat breakfast (shouldn’t they be vegetarians?) and fly off to do whatever they do with the rest of their day? Then in the evening after all the “chickens have flown up to roost,” I could emerge from the safety of my covers (much healthier than being breakfast for a bird,) and bask in the richness of a glorious sunset while counting my blessings that I wasn’t some early riser’s breakfast. Oh by the way, (just a little aside) I noticed the neighborhood cat was stalking the bird. He must have heard the “early cat gets the bird” story! Not that a cat would take advice from anyone, though. Oh yes, I love the birds and their songs about the “crack of dawn,” but just remember there is a place in the grand scheme of things for us “Night crawlers,” too. ©2006 Ilene Madrigal You can contact Ilene at [ Email ] ABOUT THE AUTHOR: In 1991, Ilene returned to college to obtain an English Degree. In 1992, she was awarded the "Orville Redenbaucher® Second Chance Scholarship" for her essay, "Intellectually Anorexic." It was then that she realized her potential as a writer. |