Hello my name is Mark . I am a young guy who has achieved a lot of success in various different fields in a short span of time. I am happy with my success and I never let anyone down and try to do good or best possible things for everyone. I am 25 years of age. Currently, I have a business of selling T-shirts for living which has grown rapidly as I have worked really hard for everything and that has led me to the success I have gotten until now.
It wasn’t that easy at the start but I managed to turn the tables through my hard work. I have a strong belief that if you work hard nothing can stop you from chasing your dreams and getting the success you always wanted. Some of the credit also goes to my parrot which I have owned since I was 10 years old. He has always been with me since the day I had seen a parrot with my friend and had requested dad to get me one. I am so happy for the decision I took at the time not knowing how it would shape my life.
My life wasn’t always like how it is right now. I faced a lot of challenges and hardships but I over came them to be the person who I am now. I have a car, a house which will be mine in a few years and a good business that’s successful enough. Let’s start from the beginning. Since I was born, I have been take care of by my parents very well. So much that maybe I was spoiled. Not in a sense that I did bad for anyone or thought bad for people. In fact, it was bad for me that people used me for my innocence and hurt me on every step. It was really bad for me at a time.
My childhood years：
In my childhood years I lived a great life thanks to my parents. They always took care of me and tried their best to give me everything I needed. I got older and one day I saw my friend and he had a talking parrot. I was pretty impressed so much so that I started asking dad for my own parrot.
Mum and dad discussed about it and mum was on my side but dad wanted me to rethink about my decision as he thought taking care of it would be very important and he didn’t expect me to take care of it at the age I was. But I was adamant and finally my parents accepted my request.
Getting My parrot:
They took me to the bird’s place and I was very happy. I got to chose from a huge variety and I chose the quiet green parrot sitting in the corner. Every other parrot was making noises but he was all alone sitting in a corner silently which made me feel for him. I wanted to give him company. Then we went to get a cage for it as well. I didn’t care much about the cage as much as I had gotten the parrot now. So my dad just got a simple white cage for the parrot.
When I got Sunshine：
Finally, I got home and I was so excited. The cage was put in house and I stood watching the parrot whole day. It wasn’t doing anything. It was quite strange as I was told this breed of parrots are usually very cheerful. I thought I should give it something to eat. I fed him seeds and he ate happily and looked happy after that.
But still didn’t do much. I went to sleep and woke up next day to find him chirping and making various sounds. It looked really happy and cheerful. I was surprised at the transformation in just one day. I mentioned it to dad and he told me that yesterday it was night time so , at that time these parrots like to be alone and quiet. Whereas in the morning their mood can be good and they can make sounds or sing. I also got to know that hearing your parrot sing is a good sign as it means its healthy and happy.
I asked if he could say anything I wanted him to say. Dad’s answer was that some of the males can but it needs a lot of patience and in some cases it may never happen. However they can learn a few words but they aren’t famous for their talking skills. And if you want your parakeet to talk or learn words, you need to start teaching him easy words and repeating simple words like “Hello” from a young age. He told me I had to do that few times a day daily and to give it time. It can be frustrating at times but I was willing to try. I was going to try and teach him hello but I remembered something. So I asked dad what should be his name that we call him from.
Dad asked what do you want to name him. I told him I didn’t know. Dad laughed and said you can name it when u actually find it out yourself or think of it. I was puzzled but I thought ok , I will find out. Anyways, days passed by and those times were fun where I would play all day with the parrot after coming back from my school. I would daily teach it some words but of no use. It would playfully sing its own songs and repeat several sounds and make funny noises. But that was it.
I was having a good time though and days passed by quickly. I had finally gotten the name of the parrot that I wanted. I would call him sunshine that’s what I thought. It was because he would get so happy and cheerful at day time when the sun is out whereas it would go all quiet at night and wouldn’t do much so it was the perfect name for him. When I told dad about my philosophy of naming, he was quite impressed.
When Sunshine was 5 years old:
Years passed by and everyone had gotten used to Sunshine’s daily songs and sounds. I was 15 years old now and was living a wonderful life. I had started college and now I had less time to spend with Sunshine. But it was close to me. It hadn’t learnt to say “hello” still. I was a bit worried but couldn’t do anything about it. I chose to kept teaching it but now I had left the ambition of hearing Sunshine’s hello.
I had passed my school exams with flying colors and my family was really happy. My dad decided to gift me some things but I didn’t want any gift for myself. I wanted it for Sunshine. He had been living in the same cage since years. I didn’t like it. I regretted not choosing the best for him 5 years ago. But now, I made my point. I asked dad to just get a new cage of my choice for Sunshine instead of getting me anything. He agreed and we went to get a new cage. This time , I got the most beautiful and colorful cage there could be and it was decorated so well and it made it shine bright among every other options there were. We took it home and I decided I wanted somethings added to it. I added a separate small bowl for him for his seeds and food and then added a new cup for water.
After these arrangements, we shifted him to his new home. He was happier in his new home. I could tell by his sounds he liked the new home very much and why wouldn’t he. It was the best. In these years, I had known how to take care of his nails. Some people can use sand covered perches to help control nail growth but that can be harmful for skin. It’s said that a healthy parakeet that has a good diet wouldn’t need to get his nails done too often. But I still used to take great care of him and his nails. It was really tough at the start but I got used to it later on after years of doing that. If the nails get too long, they need to get clipped regularly so that they don’t get curly and uncomfortable.
The first time I saw his nails big , I was told by dad to clip them. For that time I got dad’s help as he held Sunshine while I clipped his nails. It can be a tough job but when I got used to it, that became easy. As I got some techniques of how to do it better. You have to do the process fast and easy though as they can overheat rapidly. Some people can trim wings as well. There are pros and cons to both as a budgie that has his wings clipped can still glide but can’t fly.
People think it’s easier to tame the bird if it has it’s wings clipped. And for them it can be safer as the bird can’t fly or escape the house. But I don’t have that opinion. For me , I want to give the birds their freedom and they won’t even go if they are your pets and you love them and treat them well. For me clipping their wings was never an option. My dad had given me those opinions mostly. He always told me better things and brought me up well. That’s why everyone liked me and I was everyone’s favorite.
When Sunshine was 10 years old:
Some years passed and life became very difficult for me. I was no more the favorite person of the family. I had failed in my college exams and I was trying to get them done but somehow I kept failing the most scariest subject for me which was “Mathematics”. I couldn’t pass and I saw people’s
Attitudes change towards me. People had gotten sour towards me and I didn’t know the reason. Maybe they had given up on me and they thought I was useless just because of one failure. I was at the worst point of my life. I had no one except Sunshine. Even dad had moved to another city for his job. Even my friends had left me alone who were there with me in school when I was good. I had lost every hope. I didn’t have a job.
And I couldn’t find anything that I could do and that interested me to the level that I could persist for forever. I tried a few things but I couldn’t find anything. I tried to pass but my various attempts at the exams went unsuccessful. I had given up. I was a looser. There was nothing I could do well. People at that time started using me for innocence as well.
My dad wasn’t there so they had me as an easy target. Despite all this Sunshine was there with me. He didn’t think I was a looser. He would still get so happy seeing me. He would sing songs and replicate noises that came from close by. He gave me a bit of hope but maybe it wasn’t enough. Until one day, he finally managed to say “Hello”. I was filled with joy as I heard him speak. It was like a dream come true. My hard work and patience had worked. I had done a seemingly impossible task.
It made me realize and think that everything is possible if you work that hard for it but you need to keep the patience as success doesn’t come overnight. U have to be consistent enough with your hard work to make things happen. It’s never easy but you have to have faith. I was taught the most important message of life by just this small thing. Which can be a small thing for anyone except me. So I took some decisions and started acting upon them.
When Sunshine was 15 years old:
So, years passed by and now I am 25 years old life has changed a lot. So I completed my education of college as I changed my subjects and gave my papers again due to which everyone was happy. I was offered a job on the basis of my education but I had rejected it. Coz I had realized my passion. I wanted to do a business so I took money from dad to open my own shop of t-shirts. As a person who likes style and has a good fashion sense, it was the best thing I could do for a living. I started from a normal seller but now I have reached the point where the business has grown so much that the people who used to talk bad about me have even started getting shirts from my shop. I have changed people’s mindset through lot of hard work and patience but in all these years what was there with me was Sunshine. He has actually been the sunshine in my life.
He had been saying Hello for some years now and getting woken up by his sounds feels necessary now. I have taken best care of him and have gotten ample knowledge about his diet. I think the balanced diet is the best thing you could give a parakeet. It’s quite tempting to keep feeding them seeds as they love it very much but in my opinion and some other knowledgeable persons, only 50 percent of his diet should consist of seeds. Whereas the other 50 percent should consist of pellets.
A bird that doesn’t have pellets in his diet is at the risk of being low in vitamin’s and minerals. People should also add fruits and vegetables to their diet and then can get to know about their pet’s likes or dislikes by feeding them different kinds. I know his likes, his dislikes and everything now. We have formed an unbreakable bond which is far beyond anyone’s thoughts. He has a big role in making me the person I am.
I think parrots are the best pets a person can have. They are probably the easiest to take care of not that I didn’t have any problems but they are still the easiest to handle in my opinion. Even though there were times where we had difficulty but I always took him to doctors whenever it was needed. I had even lost him once when he had flown out of our house one day when the cage was open but he had returned the same day in a few hours. It was scary but that’s the power of love and freedom you give to your pets and mostly they do return the favor.
Sunshine’s death:
I was living a very successful life but then one day , Sunshine left me alone for ever. He was lying motionless in his cage. I tried to wake him up but of no use. I will miss him forever and no one can fill the void he has left but the message he gave me will stay with me. Which was dreams can be achieved only through consistent hard work for longer periods of time.
