Born To Soar
As the old story goes, when a pair of eagles is ready to have a family, they build a great nest from broken sticks and thorny branches. Then they line it with feathers, skins and fur from animals they have killed, and soft down plucked from their own breasts. Thus when the baby eagles hatch, they are warm and comfortable.
The parent eagles then spend many weeks of exhausting work, continually bringing food to the hungry growing baby eagles. The young eagles grow and prosper and enjoy sitting in the comfy nest in leisure like little couch potatoes. Of course, eagles are “born to soar,” not just lie around. But why would a baby eagle bother learning to fly when life is so cozy? So the parents pick out all of the soft stuff in the nest until the baby eagles have only sharp sticks and thorns to sit on. They try to find a soft spot to sit, but cannot. This makes them uncomfortable and restless. The young eagles cannot sleep, and get so miserable and unhappy that finally they are willing to get out and go somewhere else.
As they watch the parent eagles hovering over them in the air, they just might feel that they themselves were born to soar on the wind too, and should try flapping their wings! The reality is that the full-grown “baby” eagles spend the last days before their first flight standing on the nest, stretching out their majestic wings, and beating the air with them. Since they are up so high, there are often breezes that come along and “lift” them off the nest unexpectedly and set them back down. Enough days of this, and at one point there is just the right combination of flapping and breeze … and off they go soaring.
This marvelous metaphor fits perfectly and helps us make sense of our own lives. We work hard and should enjoy some peacefulness and joy in our lives. But after a while, we will not grow unless we try our wings. We get so comfortable in our sheltered homes that we avoid any notion improving or changing. When you are up high and comfortable, even the thought of looking down can be downright frightening. If you’ve been sitting on the edge of your nest, what have you been thinking about doing? Are you stretching your wings in the breeze? Most of us don’t want changed nor will we change until we’ve had enough uncomfortable experiences. And at some point, we will be forced to try out our wings and leave the comforts behind. Like the eagle, were you born to soar?
For more information on Matt Booth, contact angela@speakernow.com or call 515-974-8305