Becoming present !

From the experience I have had in our garden, the birds and squirrel can be spotted by watching their behaviour, even in a misty morning.  

An Iora bird is often spotted by the appearance of a brilliant yellow colour in the foliage. It moves swiftly between branches and the yellow and deep bluish plumage alert us of its presence.

A Tailorbird is a singing bird and looks for bushes or trees with thick foliage. It stays in one place for a while and by tracing the location of the bird call, it is often possible to get closer to its presence. It too has a splendid colour combination in its plumage.

A Barbet can be spotted where its food of choice is present. In its early morning flight movements it moves between 'food stations'. I noticed that the Barbets will give bird calls,  once they are in the food station, probably to make their presence known to other Barbets. 

A squirrel makes its presence known through its brisk movements. The squirrels have a habit of pausing in between the movements. That makes it easier to spot them. 

 

The behaviour of birds and a squirrel that I noticed one morning recently, made me think about how we as humans make our presence known to others around us. 

We had three workers in our garden yesterday to cut three tall coconut palms leaning towards our cottage. They were struck by lightning last week and needed to be cut. While felling the trees, I noticed that their regard to avoid the falling tree damaging other trees was casual. They could have avoided damaging the custard apple trees . But they did not care enough to avoid the damage. 

It was out of that disappointment, I took time to ponder over our instinctual behaviour. 

We can have a narrow minded view of doing what we feel is our duty, without being regardful of how our action would affect others. 

I remember one occasion when I was late for a meeting. I apologised for being late. One organiser of the meeting retorted: 'You do not appear regretful'! It was form that occasion, I try to practice being at an occasion ten minutes early. 

How others receive us and our behaviour ought to be a matter of some concern if we want to practice mindfulness. 

I realise that I have a brief and sometimes only an occasional contacts with others. It is during such a contact we leave impressions that can last. 

I dropped in to the telephone office yesterday, as we needed to move into a fibre optic connection,  as the landlines got damaged during the recent lightning event. The officer surprised me by his politeness, and attention to my concerns.  He gave me suggestions to do what was necessary to make the shift possible. What surprised me most was his readiness to hear and understand without appearing to be in a hurry. He received me and my concern with an interest to help.  

On my drive back home, the thought that stayed in mind is this question, 'How do I sound to others through my behaviour'! Does the task that is before me consume all my attention that I appear demanding and not regardful of the other person ! 

After making a purchase, I stopped to thank and greet the shop keeper. The shop keeper smiled at me and said: Thank you for kindness. I was surprised that he cared to reciprocate. The shop keeper sent me away cheerfully. I felt touched by the mission that he carries at his work place. 

We make our presence known to others through the way we are to them,  during a brief contact.  

I felt that one mission in all transactional context is : Make your presence memorable and pleasant as much as possible. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)