Hummingbird Theory

This theory is near the crux of what I believe, so I always wanted to flesh this idea out. I came up with the Hummingbird Theory a few months ago but I like to think I’ve lived by it for a while.

I was at a bead store over spring break, looking at all the cool random animal beads. I found a hummingbird that I really liked, so I decided to buy it and make a necklace out of it. Later, someone asked me why I bought a hummingbird necklace, and I didn’t really have a good answer. Naturally, I looked up hummingbirds on Wikipedia, and came up with the hummingbird theory.

Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolic rate of all animals. They are constantly on the verge of starvation, and are always fighting for their survival. In essence, that’s how I want to be living.

I stole this quote from one of my wise friends, the quote is by George Bernard Shaw.

“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

While I’ve started to recognize that being too ambitious and hard-working can be dangerous and lead to burn out, at the same time I still believe life is about pushing your limits and being thoroughly used up.

A lot of times I hate myself for being busy. Last night, a Friday, I was packing up to go home from work. I was beat from a long week and ready to relax. I checked my phone before heading out and I had a text from a friend that started, “Hey Ken, you busy tonight?...” I was immediately prepared to text back, “Sorry, not tonight, it’s been a long week.” Then I finished reading the rest of the text, “We could use your help feeding the homeless..” At that moment I thought, damn.

If he had finished the text with anything else I would have been prepared to bag it and go home. But I knew that I wanted to commit to a cause bigger than myself, and to be exhausted fighting for that cause. Sometimes, opportunities fall into your lap when you don’t want them, but it’s kind of the, be careful what you ask for, kind of idea. So I headed off to help out.

This is not to say everybody should be feeding the homeless, and I don’t want anyone leaving with that impression so I wanted to end with this Vince Lombardi quote.

“The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.”

I think that’s really what the hummingbird theory tries to get at. Find your dream, commit, and chase after it relentlessly.

from ken

Are you trying to change your life? I'd love to hear about it! ken.e.noguchi@gmail.com