Are missed opportunities really all that bad?

Here I am, enjoying a surprisingly mild Vermont winter, observing the first signs of spring. The birds come to our feeders and it is always a pleasure to see the birds come back, some showing off their colorful plumage.  I would love to eventually have a picture of every breed of bird I see that visit us throughout the year, so patiently, I sometimes wait by a window to snap the perfect picture.

There are times when I do get a decent pic of a curious and shy Blue Jay looking for his meal of peanuts.

Other times the Blue Jay is a bit too shy and all I get are bird feet.

 Then there is the flashy red male Cardinal perched on the bird feeder... only to catch a glimpse of him in flight.  His feet, like the wheels of a plane, prepare to retract into the feathery undercarriage of his body.

And here again, with his feet and tail end in the most interesting position, another missed opportunity.

Change of species here to capture a pretty cool moment.  "Squirrel with Goddess Figure" is what I will call this one.

Even though most of my bird shots that one day were of bird feet, I did find it to be quite a unique view as they begin their ascent into the heavens.  It was never my initial intention to capture these beings in motion like this, but I saw their potential, their connection to something we all deal with at some time or another.  The feet photos can be seen as a loss, a missed opportunity, a frustration at not getting something just right.  What I see from this is opportunity.  A potential.  Observing something from a different angle and maybe getting something more out of it.   Many times in our lives we tend to focus on the negative, that missed moment, the what ifs.  It drains us, like a leech, sucking any chance to take care of ourselves and to live life to our utmost potential.
Missed opportunities are just that - missed.  They are in the past.  Time to look ahead.  So as Mother Nature continues to tease us with her mood swings, I look forward to catching more critters - and their feet- on camera as the years go by.