The jade green lake was still and quiet before the evening concert of frogs. On a long branch hanging low above the water, a young parrot was looking at his own reflection in nature's looking glass with a sour disapproval. Alfred was feeling sad as he could see how ugly he was. Ugly and clumsy. His mother was a beautiful and graceful macaw. His father was confident and dressed in magnificent feathers. Alfred saw himself as inadequate and imperfect, and could not see how he possibly could be their child. He cried quietly when no one was looking, ever since he was grown enough to notice how he looked. Despite his mother's assurances that he was growing into a beautiful young parrot with a bright future and this was a natural stage of growing up, he thought this was not true and that she only said it to comfort him.
Both Alfred's parents were beautiful scarlet macaws with colourful yellow, blue and red feathers and he was nearly featherless, grey and clumsy looking with underdeveloped wings. And maybe those wings and feathers would develop and become as beautiful as those of his parents, but if not? He would forever be so ugly. Besides, it was important to look good right now, and not in some distant future that might never come! He felt naked and just could not face anyone so he kept hiding away from view.
The process of growing up was slow, if it ever was to happen indeed, and every day was torture for him. His parents pleaded with Alfred to be patient, but despite trying hard to be patient he suffered greatly. There was a lovely Amazon rainforest all around him with so many beautiful birds, fish, amphibians and flowers in all colours and shapes, but he felt too sorry for himself to enjoy living in this paradise. In the depths of his despair, he hardly paid attention to the golden warm sun, green lush beautiful forest, light playing on the waves of the lake, lovely trills and chirps of birds and insects or even overpowering croaking of frogs and buzzing of cicadas. Not to mention a sweet smell of blossoming trees and ripening figs and mangos. So many treats were going to waste!
A tiny hummingbird flew by once and stopped mid-air by the hibiscus tree to drink nectar from its lovely pink flowers. It could stay suspended in the air thanks to his fast flapping wings. The parrot opened his eyes wide in admiration and sighed saying 'How graceful and beautiful you are!'
The little bird looked a bit surprised at the young macaw and responded with a bit of doubt 'Really? I'm too busy to think about that. I need to eat constantly to survive. Besides, you'll be beautiful soon as well, although I'm not sure if appearance matters that much anyway.'
'Perhaps not,' continued Alfred with a sorrowful voice, 'but my life is a misery until such time comes, if it ever does!'
'Oh, you get the luxury of time! We, hummingbirds, live but a fraction of your life span and we hardly ever can stop eating to provide enough nutrients to our bodies, so we don't get much free time to worry about looks or things like that. We can't rest for long on our legs either, as they are too weak to hold our bodies. Your life is a luxury by comparison! You get a long life, a strong body and lovely feathers. We savour every moment we have to spare to appreciate this beautiful forest, the sun and life thriving around us. If you ask me, you seem to be spending a lot of time worrying about the colour of your feathers and your looks. What a waste!' said the hummingbird and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
Left alone with his thoughts, Alfred contemplated these words of criticism for a long while. The humming bird was right! The young parrot suddenly woke up to a new perspective. Alfred suddenly saw the forest anew and his worries no longer seemed so important. Colourful feathers or not, he would not waste another moment of his life thinking about how he looked and instead he would start experiencing the world around him and have fun! Eat sweet fruit, smell fragrant flowers, touch soft green leaves and admire the beauty of tall trees. Every moment is an opportunity for happiness and a gift to be treasured.
