Page 57 - Ray Millennia 2020

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IGNORANCE NO LONGER A BLISS

T h e d a y s t h a t t r a n s p i r e d b e t w e e n u s a n d C o v i d - 1 9 h a s r e a l l y n u r t u r e d e a c h o f
u s i n d i f f e r e n t w a y s . O u r a p p r o a c h t o o u r f e l l o w m e n h a s e i t h e r b e c o m e
p o s i t i v e l y g o o d o r n e g a t i v e l y h a r m f u l . N a t u r e b e i n g o n e o f t h e g r e a t e s t
t e a c h e r s o f a l l t i m e s , I a m o b l i g e d t o s a y t h a t I l e a r n e d a g r e a t l e s s o n t h a t i s
g o i n g t o s t a y w i t h m e f o r e v e r . A l e s s o n I t h i n k i s m a k i n g a b e t t e r i n d i v i d u a l
o u t o f m e . T o m e , a M y n a b i r d w a s n e v e r a n a t t r a c t i v e o n e . T h e c o l o r , s h a p e
o f i t s h e a d o r e v e n t h e t o n e i n w h i c h t h e y s a n g m o r n i n g p r a i s e s n e v e r
a t t r a c t e d m e t o t h e m . T h e y s e e m e d t o m e d u l l , r o u g h a n d p e c u l i a r u n t i l t h e
d a y I f o u n d a M y n a c h i c t h a t w a s l y i n g h e l p l e s s . I t h a d f a l l e n f r o m i t s n e s t
a n d t h e p a r e n t s w e r e p o w e r l e s s . F e a r i n g t h a t t h e n a s t y d o g s o r c a t s m a y p r e y
o n t h i s l i t t l e o n e , I d e c i d e d t o n u r t u r e h e r a n d s e t h e r f r e e o n c e t h e t i m e i s
r i g h t . A n d t h i s l i t t l e b u d d y g i r l b e c a m e a p a r t o f o u r s w e e t l i t t l e f a m i l y .
B u d d y w a s j u s t a c o u p l e o f w e e k s o l d , n o t m o r e .

Buddy and I shared a lovely bond. It was indeed my greatest pleasure to learn that buddy recognized me as her
mamma birdie. The way she fluttered her wings and called out for me at my sound or sight was a million dollar
worth feeling for me. My days started revolving around buddy’s needs. Everything was going on so smooth. I
never realized that change was lying low somewhere close by.
I was so enthralled and elated with the love I had for buddy. In my excitement of getting close to buddy, little
did I bother to know or educate myself about her breed, her nutrition, gap between meals, etc. I was just lost in
my love for buddy, may be not lost in buddy in its real nature. Not that I did not feed her well, but may be fed
her with what was not sufficiently enough for her for her nourishment. The change I said was awaiting
exploded in the form of destruction. Our little buddy girl got paralyzed after two months and left us all the very
same day. This shook my inner self and made me think loud. Did it happen to Buddy because she had a terrible
fall from a height and I did not get her seen to, or was it because she lacked in nutrition? Did I really love my
buddy girl? Or did I ignore her needs? Did I overlook things as I did not really know how to take care of a
different kind, though I considered her family?

O f t e n w e d o l o v e , r e s p e c t , h e l p , u p l i f t a n d a p p r e c i a t e o u r f e l l o w m e n . B u t
d o w e g i v e i t a l l w i t h t h e t r u e , g e n u i n e , s e l f l e s s w a y s ? O r i s i t d o n e w i t h a
m e r e s e n s e o f d u t y ? D o w e r e a l l y t r y t o k n o w a n d u n d e r s t a n d o u r c l o s e o n e s ,
o u r c o l l e a g u e s , o u r n e i g h b o r s , e t c t o t h e f u l l e s t c a p a b i l i t i e s o f o u r b e i n g o r
o n l y t o t h e s e n s e o f c o m m i t m e n t ? D o w e R E A L L Y c a r e ? O r a r e w e i g n o r a n t a n d
t a k e f o r g r a n t e d , t h e g i f t o f b e a u t y e n t r u s t e d t o o u r c a r e a n d n u r t u r e ? D o w e
f a i l t o s e e o u r r e a l d u t i e s ?
F a i l u r e t o k n o w o u r o w n k i n d i s i g n o r a n c e . F a i l u r e t o u s e t h e r e s o u r c e s
g r a n t e d t o u s i s i g n o r a n c e . T a k i n g f o r g r a n t e d , t h e p r i v i l e g e g i v e n t o u s i s
i g n o r a n c e . A n d i g n o r a n c e i s n o t b l i s s , a l w a y s . I t c a n b e d i s a s t e r l y i n g i n
d i s g u i s e . I t c a n b e d a n g e r u n d e r c o v e r . T h e b e a u t y o f t h i s l e s s o n t h a t I
l e a r n e d i s s t i l l u n f u r l i n g b e f o r e m e e v e r y d a y . A n d I h o p e t h a t t h i s m a y
i m p r e s s u p o n o u r t h i n k i n g a n d m a k e u s a l l b e t t e r a n d m e a n i n g f u l p e o p l e .
M s . O l i v i a
M e d i c a l O f f i c e r