Having grown up in West Virginia and resided here my entire life, I have heard tales about coal miners taking canaries into the coal mines with them.  The reason?  Canaries are extremely sensitive to carbon monoxide & methane.   These two dangerous gases could be deadly to the miners and, being odorless, they had no warning that their lives were in peril.  Enter the canary...

A canary would be taken into the mine inside of a cage and would provide a lovely song while the miner's worked.  However, if they were to encounter dangerous gases, the canary would stop singing, sway on the perch, and drop over dead.  That was the miner's cue to get the heck out of the mine before they perished!

I have a friend who is very much like a mine canary.  To look at, she is colorful and a thing of beauty, just like the bird.  Even in moments of darkness, she provides a cheerful and caring demeanor, just as the canaries sang in the dark mines for the men.  However, she is extremely sensitive...like no other person I have ever met.

When my friend is exposed to repeated negativity and stress, I can immediately see the changes in her personality.  As the stress and undue poisonous conditions persist, I notice her struggling and fading away into an abyss.  All I can do is stand back and watch, helplessly, as she succumbs to her emotional environment.  Like deadly gases in a mine, these stressors affect my dear friend in a most devastating way. 

This friend of mine embodies the very essence of generosity.  Her giving nature has warmed many hearts.  Just like the mine canary, she will give of herself until it just about kills her...and gladly.  To watch her be used and taken advantage of by others who are only out for what she can provide for them upsets me to no end.  Unfortunately, that is a cross that she will bear for her entire life for the simple fact that she is a free giver of her love, time, money, and care.  She will grow old knowing the great joy associated with being a person of this character.  However, from time to time, she is going to be abused, used, and disposed of by those who make it their goal to take from others and not give back.

As I watch my coal mine canary friend travel through this life, I have to feel an immense amount of sadness for her when she is simply used and, ultimately, overtaken by the poison of selfishness.  As long as the canary is in my life, I will try my best to pull her out of the dark noxious place that depression and anxiety takes her and back to the light of the outside.  The world would be a most dreary place without her beautiful song and bright colorful beauty.