Is there something you’ve heard for your entire life that you automatically assume is true?
Year after year, you believe this thing without ever questioning it. Then something happens, and all of a sudden your belief comes crumbling down.
I recently had an experience like that, where I found out I’d been clinging to a myth for decades. It was yet another reminder of how important it is for us to step back and rethink the narratives we believe just because they are familiar to us.
Maybe my story will help you uncover a myth or two in your own life.
Summer, Robins, and False Narratives
One of my favorite summer activities is watching the robins who nest in the holly tree right outside my kitchen window. I’ve been keeping an eye on this nest since the spring, when the robins laid their first round of eggs. Now, whenever I’m preparing meals or washing dishes, I check on the nest and its residents.
While the spring fledgelings have long flown the nest, Mother Robin laid a second batch of eggs midsummer. Shortly after they hatched, I noticed something was wrong—the nest had shifted and was now tipping to one side.
Soon after, it wobbled a bit when one of the parents landed on its edge.
Then it happened: the nest tipped so much that one of the babies fell to the mulch below.
Oh no–not my robins! My first instinct was to march out and put everything back as it should be.
But I hesitated.
Because, like many of you, I’d been told my whole life that you should never touch a baby bird because the mother will reject it.
I felt frozen and unsure, so I made a quick call to my local wildlife refuge to ask for guidance. Not sure why. Maybe, deep down, I suspected that the narrative I’d believed for so long was a myth.
Large cooking spoon in hand, I rushed out to the mulch, gingerly scooped up the tiny, helpless baby (who opened its hungry mouth as soon as I touched it), and returned it to the nest. Phew.
A few minutes later the mother returned. This time, her landing jostled the unstable nest so much that the entire thing fell to the ground, not only dumping the baby I had just returned but its sibling as well.
No!
I went back out for round two, carefully tucking both nestlings back and relocating the nest to a sturdier nearby branch.
Would the parents return?
The folks at the wildlife refuge told me to watch the nest for an hour. If no parent returned, they suggested I bring the babies to them for care.
So I watched. Waited. Held my breath, scanning the front yard for any sign of mom or dad.
After 55 minutes, one of the parents returned with a beak full of snacks and fed the two gaping mouths—like nothing had ever happened.
Overriding False Narratives With Facts
The robin incident was a small disruption in my daily routine, but a big reminder of how easy it is to believe the false narratives we fall prey to, simply because we’ve never challenged them.
If you’re constantly fed a certain story, and you never encounter anything that opposes it, your brain starts to adopt that narrative as ‘truth.’ In moments of stress and fear, your brain then defaults to relying on the familiar narrative instead of analyzing the situation logically.
It’s critically important, especially in those moments, to check the facts before behaving based on the assumed truth. If I had believed mine, those baby robins would not have survived. Instead, my dinner dishes are serenaded by the high-pitched squeaks of two fledglings preparing to fly.
The next time you’re facing a critical decision, ask yourself…
- What is the narrative I’m believing?
- Is it based on fact or fiction?
Then stick to the facts.
