Every morning for hours.
What is going on? Where is this noise coming from? I hear it and I go “looking” for the sound. I open the door to my son’s old room and see, through the arch of his bedroom window, a bird that taps. Every morning without fail. I actually look forward to the tapping now. I wonder what this bird is trying to do or to say. I just love to sit and watch it. Sometimes, if I have a moment, I will lay down, close my eyes and let my imagination wander as the bird taps.
I half imagine that this is a bird that knows my son and has watched my son grow from a little boy to, now, a young man. The bird wonders where my son is and is tapping to say, “Where are you?” Again, that is in my imagination for sure! But the other thing, I think about is the freedom that birds must have and the varying perspectives that can change daily. Their perspectives, I guess, if you want to find an analogy to our hips (or other challenges) can be similar.
Some days, we may feel like we are delighted in our progress. We feel refreshed just like the bird that finds the little bit of water and has a splash! Other days, we are off and flying over the rooftops and into the clouds where all of life’s problems are like tiny ants. Other days, we sit chirping on a tree branch with leaves rustling and the sound of kids playing in the background.
And, other days, there’s just a huge splat. A thud and some loose feathers. We flew into the window of anxiety, pain, hopelessness. Even if you have a broken wing though, it will heal. Even if you have a dazed outlook, things will look up. You will realize that “the biggest favor you can do to yourself is fly freely like birds” (Gera). Move with the wind instead of against it. Enjoy the rain as it cleanses. Find the tiny delights in your day whether it is scratching that itch on your foot, ditching your crutches or even that first walk around your neighborhood!
Be persistent like my little bird friend that taps on my son’s vacant bedroom window. The bird is not waiting for the immediate reward of seeing my son as he wakes up in the morning but waiting patiently for the future when my son, on another day, will again wake up to this tapping. We need to understand that hip healing is a process. There will be days that you may feel like a big splat on a window and other days where you are soaring with the best of them. Take each day as it comes and realize that your perseverance will pay off. You’ve got this!