When I was younger I wished and dreamed I could fly. To feel the air rushing past as I burst through clouds, broke sound barriers, and glided among the treetops. If I could choose a super power, the ability to fly would be my immediate answer. Alas, I have come to accept that I can’t, and probably won’t ever, fly in my lifetime.
Until now. I can fly if I want to. We all can.
This is, of course, in a metaphorical sense. But just think about it for a second. Close your eyes, imagine the blue sky. Imagine the freedom. The freedom obtained by doing what you want to do, not what you have to do. The first step towards this is simply by jumping a fence.
Imagine a chicken. Limited to a pen. Pecking the ground constantly. It has no purpose other than to lay eggs and be served as food to humans. This is how I see daily life for most of us. Going day in and day out working at the same job, doing the same commute, earning minimum wage. Hoping one day it might change.
Yet, it never does change. The chicken doesn’t attempt to fly over the fence. It simply continues to peck, lay eggs, and be eaten. They grow fat on the falsely fed reality that this is the life they are meant to live. They have theirs heads at the ground peck, peck, pecking away – hoping for that better life that will never come. Are they even hoping at all?
The sparrow watches these chickens from his perch in a tree nearby. Merrily does he sing his song. He has flown in from his own nest, made by himself, at the place of his choice. He wonders how these fat birds in the pen simply don’t fly? There is more to a bird’s life than sitting all day and gathering scraps from the earth. How can these chickens not want to feel the wind through their wings, lifting and navigating the open skies? The sparrow contemplates this as he watches them.
These chickens are so focused on the ground and the pen, when just over the fence they can get as many juicy, gorgeous worms as they want. Or ample, bursting fruit on the nearby trees. It’s all there, if they simply made the choice and flew over.
The sparrow wonders this as he feels the morning breeze ruffle through his feathers. He takes in the warm morning sun, spreads his wings, and lifts in to the rising air. As he rises above the tree line, he looks to the horizon. He knows where he wants to be, and he will get there on his own wings. By his own choice.
This simple analogy is how I want to live. How I believe we all should live. We are all destined for greatness in our own right. We all have something to provide this world. But we just have to jump the fence of the chicken pen to start believing. Jumping that picket fence will provide us more confidence, make us stronger, and start that long trek to achieving success in our lives. Whatever that success might be.
Go on. Join me. Jump that fence now.
