The Parable of the Squirrelly Squirrel
There was this big oak tree in the front yard that provided shade to the house and a home to about a million squirrels. One squirrel, in particular, had, it seemed a pretty good life, He had a fur coat to keep him warm and hthe tree provided enough nuts for all the squirrels to gather plenty to eat. For exercise he had the dog that lived in the house but would come out every afternoon and try to catch our friend, the squirrel. But to no avail. The furry little creature had been blessed with such speed and agility that the dog, and even the neighborhood cats couldn’t best him. All and all, he had all the advantages that nature could provide, but he was a squirrelly squirrel…and he was dissatisfied with the way of things.
He would sit up high in the tree each day and watch the birds.
Oh, how he wished he could fly and soar like a them! If he could fly, he could see more of the world and know what kind of nuts were on the other side of the hills near the tree. He would dream about how delicious those nuts must be.
All the other squirrels would just shake there heads and wonder why the squirrelly squirrel couldn’t just make the best with the amazing abilities and talents that nature provided. After all he had the brains and the physical ability to provide for himself and his family. His work ethic was an inspiration to the other denizens of the tree.
But he was never happy. His fantasy of flight soon became an obsession and then a brooding resentment.
The squirrel decided that he didn’t just want to fly but that he deserved to fly. Nature had cheated him out of the gift of flight and he became more and more determined to take to the skies.
One day it all became too much to bear and he climbed to the highest branch of the tree and he jumped as hard as he could…and he flew..for a few seconds before falling toward the earth
His descent was stopped, abruptly by a hawk, who crashed into him and grabbed him with his talons and soared high into the sky. The squirrel instantly decided that it was unfair for the hawk to have wings when he was deprived of the advantage. He began pulling rapidly pulling out the hawks’ feathers until the bird could no longer fly and they both plunged to their death.
The squirrelly squirrel had accomplished his heart-felt desire to fly. What an inspiration he would have been to the other squirrels, had he just known how to land.
Birds do what birds do just the same as squirrels do what squirrels do to survive and flourish.
The moral of the story is that a squirrel is a squirrel, capable of many great things. But he will never be a bird. Take pride in who and what you are and use the many gifts with which you have been blessed. But never try to be what you are not, it never ends well.