Someone recently told me that one way to keep our brains sharp is to read about subjects we know nothing about. I thought about that the other day as I was perusing magazines at Barnes & Noble. My eyes kept scanning the shelves until they landed on the perfect magazine: Chickens – which, of course, was all about chickens! A topic that I confess to knowing at least a little bit about, but it would do as my first venture into reading about the unknown.
My first experience was at the checkout counter. The young woman who helped me launched into a tirade about how much she hated chickens and the awful memories she had of having to feed her neighbor’s chickens when they were out of town. As she was ranting and raving, another person behind the counter jumped in with his own horror stories about chickens, calling them “nasty creatures”.
Well, I certainly hadn’t expected such reactions over a magazine called Chickens. Forget sharpening my brain; this could be more exciting than the latest Stephen King novel! I paid my money, sat down with my latte and began to read Chickens from cover to cover.
After the build-up at the checkout counter, it was a bit disappointing to learn that chickens are…..well, just chickens! And that there are lots of people out there who take great pleasure in raising them.
One article featured several beautiful show breeds with names like Belgian d’Uccles and Yokohamas. Another discussed remedies for egg binding – a condition in which an egg gets stuck and won’t come out. It’s not only painful, but can be life threatening for the hen. Another article discussed the care and feeding of chickens. And did you know that there is such a thing as Therapy Chickens? Just like dogs and horses. Though I haven’t eaten chicken in ages, there were also several delicious-sounding chicken soup recipes. I was fascinated by all I had learned about chickens in one short hour.
What does all this have to do with personal mastery? My newly sharpened brain has a few observations.
Read my next post…….
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