Even Eagles Need a Push
No matter how many times I’ve “reinvented” myself, no matter how many times I’ve gone through “molting,” shedding the layers that limit the own expression of my gifts to the world, I frequently encounter resistance. An internal resistance to change. Fear, self-doubt, concerns, worries…
Does this sound familiar?
Recently, I was helping out at the Living Wisely Thrift and Gift Shop, that supports the school where my children attend Living Wisdom School Seattle. I was shelving donated books and, as books frequently do, one particular book “found me” that day.
Written in 1990, the message in Even Eagles Need a Push: Learning to Soar in a Changing World, by David McNally, remains timeless.
If you’re like me, you have a lot of diverse interests and, shall we say, distractions. And it’s all too easy to lose sight of your direction and start questioning yourself, wondering if you’ve lost your mind.
I offer you an excerpt from the preface of the book, as an inspiration and reminder to summon the courage from within as you move forward each day in fulfilling on your greatest potential.
“The eagle gently coaxed her offspring toward the edge of the nest. Her heart quivered with conflicting emotions as she felt their resistance to her persistent nudging. “Why does the thrill of soaring have to begin with the fear of falling?” she thought. This ageless question was still unanswered for her.
As in the tradition of the species, her nest was located high on the shelf of a sheer rock face. Below there was nothing but air to support the wings of each child. “Is it possible that this time it will not work?” she thought. Despite her fears, the eagle knew it was time. Her parental mission was all but complete. There remained one final task — to push.
The eagle to drew courage from an innate wisdom. Until her children discover their wings, there was no purpose for their lives. Until they learned how to soar, they would fail to understand the privilege it was to have been born an eagle. The push was the greatest gift she had to offer. It was her supreme act of love. And so one by one she pushed them, and they flew!” — David McNally, from the preface of Even Eagles Need a Push: Learning to Soar in a Changing World