I awoke early this morning to get in four miles of running before work. I usually have my route thought out in my head beforehand, but this morning, I spontaneously decided to run to the track and then get some laps under my belt instead. I'm not sure why, of all days, I decided to do this. But I followed my instinct anyways, and justified my subconscious urge to the fact that the surface is probably better for my joints.
Around and around I ran, feeling good, feeling relaxed. I looked at my watch, and figured it was time to head back (I live just under a mile away from the track) so I started running for home.
As soon as I exited the track, I saw a bunny laying in the tall grass, almost lifeless. At first, I thought it was dead. But as I came closer, I saw that it was still alive, though in a bit of a struggle to breath. His leg was straight out, almost as if it was broken. At first, I thought that is all that it was, but upon further examination, I saw that this poor bunny had been attacked by something that didn't quite finish the job. His fur had been ripped off his neck and had a bite mark in his back.
I asked the other walkers there if they had a cell phone so I could call animal control, but no one was carrying one. So I ran down to the closest shop in the village, and asked to use their phone. I called the city police, who dispatched the call to the animal control center.
I was then going to head for home, but something told me to go back and keep the poor guy company until help arrived. So I did. I stayed with him for about 15 minutes. He was very still, though not paralyzed. He started to shake when I got too close, so I kept my distance after telling him everything would be okay.
The animal control officer came by about 15 minutes later, and promptly started talking to him too. He called him "buddy" and I thought to myself that was a nice name for him, even though naming him wasn't the intent of the man's gesture.
At that point, I felt it was time for me to leave (one, because now I was going to be late for work, and two, I didn't want to know if he was going to euthanize the little guy).
I have been wondering about "Buddy" all day. He may die of his wounds, if he hasn't already. But if he's alive, perhaps he's alive because I had a hand in it. And that makes me feel good, knowing that I did everything I could do.
Throughout the whole run home, I thought about what had just happened. And then I started thinking about what has me running in the first place, this mission for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. That lead me to think of the well-known story by anthropologist Loren Eiseley, which I have reposted in case you aren't familiar with it.
One day, a man was walking along the beach, shortly after a storm had subsided. As he walked along the shore, he noticed that thousands of starfish had been washed up on the beach, in a gigantic rainbow of incredible shimmering perfection.
At the base of the rainbow stooped a little boy, gazing at an object in the sand. Eventually, he flung the object beyond the breaking surf. Eiseley went up to him and asked, “What are you doing?” The little boy answered. “I’m throwing starfish back into the sea. The hot sun is shining and the tide is going out. If I don't throw the starfish in, they will die."
Upon hearing this, the somewhat startled older man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are thousands of miles of beach and there are starfish along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"
At this, the young man bent down, picked up another starfish, and gently but quickly threw it back into the ocean.
He said, "I made a big difference to that one."
Our individual efforts can't save everyone, but in the end, we must believe that we can make a difference. Even if it's one heartbeat at a time.
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Check out my fundraising progress at:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntmi/DunCAN
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