Ok, so I stole the title from a popular country song, but none-the-less, today I do want to talk about our friend the honey bee.
Did you know, that as far as we humans are concerned, the honey bee is probably the most important animal in the world?
Do you know why that is?
One word: Pollination
As the bee goes out on it’s daily hunt for nectar, at each plant it stops it usually also inadvertently picks up some pollen. As it moves on to the next food source, it deposits this pollen, enabling the plants (aka: our food) to reproduce.
So what can people learn from the bee?
What should we try to emulate?
As you go about your daily life, gathering the things you need for YOU, you’ll also invariably pick up “stuff” that might very well be useful to others. You may or may not even be aware of this “stuff” .. but it’s there.
Here’s the thing about humans though .. unlike bees, we have this thing call Free Will.
The choices we make can have some impact on how much “stuff” we gather, what kind of “stuff” it is, and even how many other people we spread this “stuff” to.
Similarly to bees …
Where we choose to feed (our minds) will have an effect on the quality and quantity of the additional “stuff” we pick up along the way. Also .. by choosing to “feed” in a variety of different places, not only will we enhance our ability to pick up a larger cross-section of “stuff”, but we’ll do a much better job of spreading the (hopefully good) “stuff” that’s already sticking to us … thereby enhancing the opportunity for additional sources of nourishment to prosper and grow.
Basically ..
The more we interact, and give back (consciously or not), the greater the chances that we’ll Always be able to find (and get), the things we Need.
Wait a second though, aren’t some people scared of bees?
Maybe there are some things about honey bees we don’t want to emulate?
In addition to cool things like wings, big eyes, and six legs, bees also come equipped with a stinger (which I suppose some people might also classify as “cool”).
As these wonderful insects go about their mission of spreading pollen and literally creating life; if they feel threatened, they have the ability to inflict a great deal of pain on their perceived nemesis.
But there’s a catch:
Very often when a bee stings, it dies shortly thereafter.
Hmmm …
So when a bee lashes out, and stings it’s “victim”, it almost always pays a much greater price than the person or thing it was trying to hurt.
Sure, a sting is painful, but by the next day, you might not every feel it any more.
The bee however, is dead.
Do you think we might be able to apply this lesson to a few (or even most) of our human interactions?
Just something to ponder.
Til next time,
p.s. This picture was taken with my Nexus S at about 8:30am this morning. While I’d hardly call it the ideal tool for macro photography, I have to say that this one definitely turned out not bad at all .. especially for a shot taken with a camera phone.
