Strength, Courage, and Whatever the Hell I Want for Lunch!

A Story About Important Life Lessons from a Bear and a Ring —

Strength, Courage, and Whatever the Hell I Want for Lunch! Important Life Lessons from a Bear

Soon after moving to Santa Fe, we were visited by a spirit bear—meaning we didn’t actually see her. But she left plenty of hard evidence beginning with our toppled trash Toter™. Fortunately, she didn’t like what we were serving, so the mess was manageable.

“But Jeff, how do you know it wasn’t a raccoon or something?”

Let’s just say the paw prints and bear doogie down by the road sufficiently ruled that out.

Unseen Bear Lesson No. 1 – Seeing evidence of a bear’s visit is better than seeing her person-to-bear.

That wasn’t the first visit by a spirit bear, however…

Some years ago, Lanette and I were visiting Sedona, AZ. What a beautiful, amazing, spiritual, quirky, and you fill in the blank kind of place.

I believe it’s safe to say that Sedona has a unique sort of vibe that radiates through the town. And it may very well be different for anyone who visits.

Travelers visit Sedona in search of the vortexes

VisitSedona.com tells us,

Sedona has long been regarded as a place both sacred and powerful. It is a cathedral without walls. It is Stonehenge not yet assembled. People travel from all across the globe to experience the mysterious cosmic forces that are said to emanate from the red rocks.”

For me, I remember getting caught up in a different vibe. It wasn’t at all the metaphysical “experience” so many claim you’ll feel when visiting those “special” places in and around Sedona. That’s not so much my thing.

Unseen Bear Lesson No. 2 – Allow yourself to feel the energy—whatever that might mean for you.

Sedona is also known as a great place for stargazing…

Both the kind that appears in the inky dark desert skies at night and the other two-legged celebrity types that can be spotted around town (not my thing either).

The vibe I was feeling was something else.

I was captured by the sheer beauty of the surrounding landscapes. The only in Sedona colors. The perfect sunny day with horizon-to-horizon crystal blue skies.

The quirkiness of the town was cool in its own unique way.

Then add a delicious burger and fries at a local brewpub full of people simply enjoying a good time. When you’re in a place like that, you can’t help but feel the energy, right?

Bear Lesson No. 3 — Walk off lunch while exploring your surroundings even if it’s shops, celebs, and galleries.

But where are we going with this bear thing?

You might know that in many Native American traditions, animals are viewed as our older, wiser brothers and sisters.

Gary Buffalo Horn Man and Sherry Firedancer, authors of Animal Energies, explain…

Their behavior can help us better understand ourselves, heal old wounds, adapt to new situations, or warn us of dangers.”

Hold onto that thought as we duck into this shop…

I’m not remembering a lot about the place. It might have been a clothing store, but it doesn’t really matter. Something caught my attention enough to go in to take a look around.

We must have bought something because we ended up at the counter. It was there I noticed this display of simple silver and gold rings and something about “Animal Energies.”

I wasn’t a ring guy, at least not back then. Possibly some of my dad’s DNA was influencing me. He had a modest collection of rings, mostly Italian intaglios.

Whatever it was, I had a sudden interest in these rings.

So, after some trying-on and pondering. I settled on one with a bear claw motif. The lady helping us explained the bear’s energy was one of strength, courage, and, um, I don’t remember that right now. I still liked the ring, so I brought it home.

By the time we were back in Virginia, I realized I should really know what the bear’s energy was. People were going to ask.

My dear mother-in-law was the first. So, what do the bear claws mean?

Feeling very much on the spot and wishing I had paid closer attention, these words just popped right out…

**“Strength, um, courage… and, uh, whatever the hell I want for lunch!“**

Spirit Bear Lesson No. 4 – Sometimes you need to improvise, and that’s okay when it works.

Turns out I had almost completely misremembered the three spirit bear strengths. Yes, strength is correct. Bears are clearly strong. Everybody knows that.

As far as courage goes… spirit bears, unseen bears, and pretty much bears in general don’t require a lot of courage. They’re big and they’re strong and I’m told that cancels out the need for courage.

I’ve gone with strength, courage, and whatever the hell I want for lunch for a long time because it worked for me. That’s what improvisation is all about, Right Mr. V?

Then, I came across the Animal Energies book while unpacking from the move.

Guess what? I checked and Spirit Bear’s gifts to people are actually strength (ding-ding-ding), introspection, and self-knowledge.

Spirit Bear Lesson No. 5 – Always be learning, adjusting, and adapting, and willing to admit to yourself that you got something wrong.

**I did not see this lesson coming… from a bear.**

Want to know what sounds like the most powerful spirit bear lesson from the book, Animal Energies?

Well, Mama Bear and Papa Bear both tend to be quick to anger and a little overconfident in their sheer strength and power.

Like a bear, do you sometimes throw your sense of caution to the winds?

Bonus Spirit Bear Lesson No. 6 – “Being unaware of your limits in certain settings can be disastrous.”— from Animal Energies

I had read the chatter on Nextdoor.com, then our trashcan was knocked off, um, knocked over. Sure, seeing is believing. And sometimes not seeing is better.

I’m hoping you’ve learned as much from (Unseen) Spirit Bear as I have. Our natural world is full of so many wondrous gifts.

Be untucked.

p.s. What did you have for lunch today?

p.s.s. Thanks for dropping by LifeUntucked®… If you found this post beneficial, be sure to share it with a friend. I owe you one…