For everyone who needs a little less worry in their lives.
There once was a little bird, she was a very small but lively little bird. She was always flying around asking if all the other birds were ok and if they wanted to come out and play. She would always give good advice to other little birds who were worried or who didn’t feel very well.
Even though little bird was small, she was very strong, she had a strong heart, and a strong mind and because she was so busy flying around every day her wings were very strong too. She could fly very fast and all the other birds thought that little bird was perfect. They never had to worry about little bird because she was so strong and happy all the time. Even when things were wrong little bird still appeared happy because she didn’t want to make the other little birds unhappy. Little bird had been like this her whole life so the other little birds always thought that little bird didn’t have any problems and that she was so strong that she could deal with anything.
One day little bird was flying so fast that she flew into a wire fence and her wings were trapped. Little bird was in a lot of pain and she squealed and squealed and struggled but she couldn’t get herself out of the sharp wire. Little bird thought very hard about what she could do, she knew she had to be very strong and very brave if she wanted to escape.
Eventually little bird managed to escape but her wings were so sore that she couldn’t fly. This was very hard for little bird because she was used to being able to fly wherever she wanted. She slowly walked back to her home and when her friends asked her if she was ok she just said that she was a little tired because she had been working so hard. She didn’t want her friends to be worried about her and nobody knew that little birds wings were broken.
Little bird tried to carry on with all her chores and her work but because her wings were so sore she found it very hard. Eventually she told a friend what had happened and she was very worried about her and tried to give her some help and advice about how to make her wings better, but no matter how much help her friends gave her, her wings were still very sore. Little bird started to worry, what if my wings never get better and what if I’m never able to fly properly every again? What if they take so long to get better that by the time I can fly again I will be too old and won’t have enough energy to fly fast and have fun again?
Little bird started to worry that she might not ever get better. This made little bird very sad but she didn’t want her friends to be sad so she kept on trying to act as though everything was ok.
Lots of days and weeks went by and little birds wings were still very sore and she was still very worried about all the things she might not be able to do again. By this time little bird had started to worry what if I have to leave my nest because I can no longer fly up to reach it and if my wings are broken then how would I would be able to build a new nest.
Little Bird knew that she was being silly, she knew that she could find a nest that was low down so she didn’t have to fly up to it and she knew that she could get some help to re build it if needed but even though little bird knew all of these things she still couldn’t help the way she felt inside, she knew deep down in her tummy that she would be ok but she just wanted it all to be over so that she could go back to being happy and flying around playing with all the other little birds again. She was so tired of feeling worried all the time.
She thought that if she went to see the doctor he could help her make her wings better and that would take the worry away, so she made an appointment to see the doctor the very next day.
The doctor was a very nice man. “Oh little bird you mustn’t worry” he said, I have seen lots of little birds with poorly wings like yours and eventually they all got better. Sometimes it’s not your wings that are the problem, it is you worrying about your wings that makes them feel worse than they are.
“When you are feeling worried, what is it you think about?” Said the doctor.
“I worry what if my wings never get better and I can’t fly again.”
“And if I told you today that your wings were not going to get better and you were never going to fly again would you still be worried ?”
“I would be upset, but I would not be worried anymore because I would not be guessing and wondering anymore, I would already know.
“And if your wings did not get better what would you have to do?” Said the Doctor.
“I would have to look for a nest that was low enough so that I didn’t have to fly up to it and I would have to ask my friends play on the ground with me instead of flying around so that I could still spend time with them, and even if I was upset I would not be worried about what might happen anymore because I would already know.”
“Don’t you see little bird, your tummy is upset because you are trying to know what is unknown. If what you fear will happen actually happened, it would no longer be a fear because you would know what needed to be done.”
Little bird, built a nest on the ground with the help of her friends who all agreed that it was a nice change to play on the ground instead of having to flay around all the time and they were happy to do so until Little Birds wings were all better.
The Moral of the Story:
The only fact in this story was that little bird injured her wings
Everything else was a fear of what COULD happen, when the worry became a fact, there was a solution so there was no more worry, Just a new plan to work round it.
Anxiety is a survival response and happens when your body senses a threat.
Anxiety is all about expectation it is not a tangible thing, it is the worry of what has not yet happened.
You can only deal with facts that have actually happened.
Sometimes rational thinking is hard for people whose mind is so consumed with anxiety, they can feel like they are trapped inside their own head and they desperately want to get out but they can’t.
I hope that Little Bird can teach us all to realise in simple form that in most cases, the fear of what might happen is always worse than the actual thing itself.
Elaine Simpson Oct 2017
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