Life Lessons From A Squirrel

The back roads around my house have no side shoulder. They twist, they turn, and people drive fast on them.

Today I was heading out to Zumba class when I see this squirrel crouching in my lane. I will make an attempt not to hit an animal if I can slow down in time, but it's usually accompanied by me yelling "run mr. squirrel, run!"

Now, you should know that on this stretch of road not only is there no shoulder, but the road drops off into a ditch then plummets down a wooded hill.

As I come barreling down the road heading straight towards mr. squirrel he makes a split decision. Run.

I'm sure we've all seen squirrels run off the road just in time to avoid death, but this squirrel was special. He didn't just scamper to where pavement ends and forest begins lithely disappearing into the under growth. No, he runs to the edge of the pavement and catapults himself into the trees. He launched his little furry self at least five feet, and all I could do was stare my mouth dropping open before trying to focus on the road in front of me. I could see the headline now: Squirrel Faced With Imminent Death Flings Self Into Tree.

At first I couldn't stop laughing, the whole moment was priceless.

Then however, I realized that there was a moral to the story!

How many times when "one door closes, and another door opens" to we slowly walk through the new door while longingly looking at the closed one? I think that maybe I should be more like our little squirrel friend. What if I took steps in a new direction with confidence, abandon, and total commitment? Hey, I mean it looked like the squirrel enjoyed the moment being airborne, perhaps I will too!