If you are like me, you have often thought about things that seemingly “cannot” be done.

During a beautiful summer day about a month ago, my four-year old daughter Aleka, and I went to the park.  My wife, Kristina, prepared some snacks for the outing. We brought some strawberries and some  chocolate spread sandwiches packed in a container.  Just enough, until Kristina could join us for lunch a few hours later.

Days like this are one of life’s true enjoyments.

When we arrived at the park, we placed the backpack on one of the picnic tables.  We opened the container, had a few strawberries, and then headed to the swings that were about 20-yards away. During this time, a couple of squirrels were comfortably hanging around, staring at us. I thought they were a little bit too close for comfort.  People seem to feed them, so they hang around for snacks, scraps, and interaction.

As Aleka insisted that I take her to the swings, I tightly sealed the snack container, made sure that no food was exposed, and off we went to the swings.  We must have been gone for only  about 15-minutes, before heading back to our table to a big surprise.

Creatively and with a definite purpose, one of the squirrels had removed the lid from the snack container, eaten most of the strawberries, and was currently enjoying one of the chocolate spread sandwiches!  In a totally relaxed manner and with pure enjoyment, the squirrel was staring at us as if it was saying, “See what I did? Thanks for the meal!”

I am absolutely certain that I had properly sealed the container and thought that the food was “safe.”    I didn’t think that a squirrel would have the ingenuity, purpose and quite frankly – the audacity to help itself, but it did.

Apparently, this squirrel was hungry enough to figure out a way to access the snacks in only about 15 minutes.  We ended up giving our leftovers to this industrious and hungry squirrel. He earned them.

What is the moral of the story? This is open to your interpretation.

Some possible interpretive questions:

• What in my world seems “impossible” or as something that “cannot” be done?
• Am I more like the picnickers or the squirrel in this story?
• Am I complacent in thinking I am “safe?”
• What in my world can spark the “hunger” in me, as in this squirrel, to thereby spark my creativity and ingenuity? How can I be more like the squirrel in this story?

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