Friday, November 12, 2010

Bee Victorious

Aerodynamically, it should be impossible for bees to fly.

This was, in actual fact, the belief until a more recent scientific study seeking to explain how the apparently impossible flight of bees occurs every day. (For more information on this study please visit http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/12772)

Bees are responsible for pollination. Without bees, plants would find it much more difficult to reproduce.

The importance of bees:

Bee pollination of crops, something that most farmers rely heavily on, is responsible for as much as 30% of the US food supply. That doesn’t even consider what they mean for the rest of the world...

Just to raise the point even higher, here’s a list of the crops etc that require pollination from bees entirely or at least partially: Alfalfa, buckwheat, clover, Apple, apricot, avocado, berry, cherry, citrus, kiwi, mango, passion fruit, peach, pear, persimmon, plum, prune, Almond, cashew, chestnut, coconut, macadamia, cotton, flax, rape, safflower, soybeans, sunflower, asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collard, cucumber, dill, eggplant, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lima beans, mustard, onion, parsley, pepper, pumpkin, radish, rutabaga, squash, turnip, beans, cantaloupe, cucumbers, muckmelon, pumpkin, squash, watermelon, eggplant, lima beans, peppers. (and yes, some of these I haven’t even heard of...)

....To think this is all carried out by a small, rather fragile looking group (rather large in number, although decreasing) of insects.

Even scarier, to think that the majority of the credit for the diversity and health of the biosphere goes to a creature which, apparently, should find it impossible to even travel to carry out the job...

So when it comes down to it, it’d be fair to say our lives are based on something which shouldn’t be possible. Pretty amazing, huh?

What’s the point of my telling you this? It’s not about existence, not about survival; it’s about dreams. As Mary Kay Ash once said;

“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.”

What led me to think about all this? The fact that recently I’ve discovered how awesome bees are, combined with my thoughts, and a brief discussion today, about people achieving their dreams, and how, funnily enough, bees indirectly enable this.

The power of thought and mind is such a huge thing when it comes to facing the challenges between people and their dreams. Unfortunately, unlike the unknowing bees, knowledge brings with it the power of disbelief; we are each our own worst critic, and our disbelief in ourself is the biggest obstacle we have to overcome.

This is an awesome quote as well;

“Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.”

If people didn’t have dreams; goals; a vision; what would be the point of life? It is the people who have followed their passions and chased their dreams who have, in the past, made the biggest differences in the world, however big or small those dreams have been.

Take inspiration from the bee; ignore anyone or anything that says your dream is unattainable.