There’s a hummingbird living in our garden. Pascal first discovered him a few weeks ago. Since then, I've seen him daily, right outside my office door, fluttering around all of the potted flowering plants that surround our palm tree. The bird's wings move so fast, the movement always catches my eye. It's fascinating to watch this tiny little creature hover in mid-air, wings flapping frantically, long beak drawing out the nectar nestled deep within the flowers.

Yesterday it occurred to me that perhaps our resident hummingbird is here for a reason. So, I quickly went to google.com and typed in "symbolism of hummingbirds".  A link popped up, telling me that the hummingbird is indeed a messenger of "hope and jubilation". It is the only creature that can stop dead while traveling at full speed. It can hover, and it can also fly forward, backward, up or down. It lives on nectar and searches for the sweetness of life, having to use its long tongue to work its way through tough, bitter outer layers of plants in order to find the sweet nectar hidden underneath.

Another new-age link revealed that hummingbirds are signs of energy, vitality, joy, renewal, sincerity, healing, persistence, infinity, agility, playfulness, loyalty and affection. Sounds good to me. Apparently, hummingbirds flutter their wings in the pattern of an infinity symbol. And they seem to be tireless, despite that constant fast-paced wing-flapping motion. These birds have been known to travel as far as 2000 miles to reach their destination, a quality that reminds us to be tenacious in the pursuit of our dreams. Best of all, by seeking the sweetest nectar they remind us to seek out the good and beauty in life each day.

The hummingbird may have to work hard to find that sweet nectar, but it didn't take me long to find a smorgasbord of food for thought. Lately, I've felt like I've been hovering a lot - frantically moving my wings, but getting nowhere fast. Unlike the hummingbird, I feel exhausted, questioning whether I should continue to be persistent and tenacious in the pursuit of our dreams.  The hummingbird renewed a little bit of my hope though, in its reminder that sometimes you have to penetrate a tough and bitter surface to find the sweetest nectar.  And so, I'm inspired to keep on flapping my wings...