Sunset from our room above Cannon Beach, Oregon

Irresistible, these Bursts on the beach (see Burst Training Beach Style) . Running barefoot in the sand as hard as I can, then trolling my toes in the surf until I get my wind for another.

But today’s run took a surprising turn when I encountered a fledgling murre – an ocean diving bird – stranded in the surf. A gathering of gulls caught my eye, and a closer look revealed a smaller bird floundering low in the water. As I approached, the gulls scattered, but not so the little murre, by now feathers soaked and floppy.

Having had the privilege of handling many birds in my time, I reached down quickly to cradle this little guy to bring him up to the beach for a closer look.

Fledgling murre, stranded in the surf

Feet looked fine. Wings wet to the bone but nothing broken.

I stayed by baby murre until my sisters were close by, then jogged from the beach to a nearby hotel while they stood guard. With humans and their canine companions strolling the beach in regular intervals, this helpless bird was not long for this world without intervention and guardianship.

Long short? Resort looked up number for Bird and Wildlife Rescue. Hotel found a small box for me in which to house our little friend while Bird and Wildlife hustled on out to pick him up. Everyone was absolutely wonderful, eager helping hands everywhere.

Four Lessons To Learn From Bird Rescue

The plight of this little bird draws a parallel to our experiences with growth and change, aspiring to our goals, like this fledgling bird aspiring to hunt and fly. Here’s the second story the murre told today.

1) Avoid the temptation to jump back into your comfort zone. When stepping up to claim “better!”, turning back to doing things as you are used to doing them will abort the change process and quite possibly spell doom. The baby murre instinctively turned back toward the surf because that was all he knew, even though he was soaked and skinny and to flop toward the sea would have spelled inevitable doom. We can be quick to back peddle on new challenges because of physical and psychological discomfort. But they are part of the liberation process, just as they were for this fragile bird.

My sister Pam and I, part of the rescue team

2) Welcome assistance and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Without the intervention of a human, whether myself or someone else who may have come down the beach after me, this bird would have continued to flounder and would eventually have been taken by the water or a predator. Sometimes we are so insistent on doing things ourselves that we don’t get anywhere. Too proud to accept a helping hand? When it comes to big goals and endeavors, and you’re learning to fly, someone who has been there and successfully traveled the leg of the journey before you can save you a lot of missteps, false starts and grief by coaching you through the process.

3) Get support. It took a team to make the rescue happen for our murre friend. First, initial rescue from the surf. Guardians to stand watch while I ran for help. The call to and arrival of help from Wildlife Rescue. Sometimes you don’t have the best results when you go it alone. Support with a team, group, and like-mindeds when it comes to fitness or any other important endeavor can make the difference.

4) Embrace the plateau. Progress and success come in uneven spurts. We may give up when just on the cusp of a win. I spoke with Wildlife Rescue later today, to check in on baby murre. They said he was thin and being fed, was wet and is now warm and dry. He may be ready for release before long, but if the winter storms come in soon they will keep him in sanctuary through the winter, training him to feed and buiding up his strength and skills for the warmer weather of spring. In other words, time for the practice, practice, practice that is part of mastery. On the one hand, this may seem like stalled progress. On the other hand, a time necessary for the best test of one’s skills , when strength and mastery have been cultivated. A kind of plateau. We can learn from this.

Next….

P.S. A word from Wildlife rescue to pass on to you. Once a bird or other animal hits the human-and-their-pets, bikes, and vehicles zone, “nature takes its course” no longer applies. Intervene and get the wild animal access to rescue or sanctuary.

image: junebeetle