That Time I Was Attacked by a Hawk
The following originally appeared as an email newsletter in the summer of 2022.
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June 29, 2022
I've gotta be honest, I didn’t expect to be attacked by a hawk.
In the past, I've walked by them hundreds of times in my neighborhood. A pair even nested above our home once. But they've always kept their distance, either staring at me from afar or flying away if I got too close.
That’s why it never crossed my mind that one might swoop behind me and smack me in the head.
But life is full of surprises.
At the start of the attack I actually thought a tree had fallen on me—that’s how powerful these birds are! But after walloping my head, she sailed upward, showing off her beautiful feathers.
Thankfully, the hawk didn’t do much damage, but the whole ordeal came with setbacks. Prior to the incident, I had been chugging along on a new book. But now my routine was thrown off, hampering my productivity.
After some frustration and attempts to power through, I decided maybe it was best to change things up while I healed.
I still wrote, but I slowed down and spent more time reflecting on my work. For a while this didn't seem like a great use of time, but after a few days my new process led to several creative breakthroughs that I had been previously stuck on.
In our culture of relentless productivity, we often forget the importance of quiet reflection. It's still important to be diligent, disciplined, and consistent...but it's also important to take a step back, reflect, and recharge.
Even now as I'm able to return to a higher word count per day, I'm conscious that slowing down can actually help instead of hinder my process.
So is getting attacked by a hawk a good thing?
Of course not—I wouldn’t wish it on anyone! The same for any problem that might set us back.
But life throws us curveballs, not all of them pleasant.
We’d love to avoid all pain, but the problem is we can’t—not on this side of heaven. So I’m not happy I got attacked by a hawk, but I am grateful that the circumstance was an opportunity to re-evaluate my work, leading me to new, exciting ideas—ones I may not have considered otherwise. Just because something is bad doesn't mean good can't come from it.
And while there are far worse things than hawk attacks, I hope that next time I face a surprise trial I remember to lean on gratitude for what I can do instead of frustration for what I can't do.
What about you? Has a setback ever surprised you with something positive, even among the bad circumstance?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!
