Avinash Joshi

This is a story about chickens and one very confused eagle. As you read it, think about life from the eagle’s perspective. Can you relate??? [ Please do see this video before reading ]

        One day, a naturalist who was passing by a chicken farm was struck with curiosity.  He noticed an eagle, the king of all birds, living among the chickens.  He asked the farmer, “Why do you have this eagle confined to live in the barnyard with the chickens?”
        ”Since I have given it chicken feed and trained it to be a chicken, it has never learned to fly,” replied the farmer.  “It behaves as chickens behave, so it is no longer an eagle.”
        ”Still,” insisted the naturalist, “it has the heart of an eagle and can surely be taught to fly.”
        After talking it over, the two men agreed to find out whether this was possible.  Gently, the naturalist took the eagle in his arms and said, “You belong to the sky and not the earth.  Stretch forth your wings and fly.”
        The eagle, however, was confused;  he did not know who he was.  He was comfortable with his life and was content with the farmer providing his food and being in the company of the chickens.  Seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again.
        Undismayed, the naturalist took the eagle on the following day up on the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, “You are an eagle.  Stretch forth your wings and fly.”  But the eagle was afraid of his unknown self.  He was afraid of the world he did not know.  He was scared to fly.  He jumped down once more for the chicken food.
        On the next day, the naturalist rose early and took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain.  There he held the king of birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, “You are an eagle.  You belong to the sky as well as to the earth.  Stretch forth your wings now and fly.”
        The eagle looked back toward the barnyard.  Then he looked up to the sky.  He still did not fly.
        Then the naturalist lifted him straight toward the sun.  The eagle looked up to the sky and began to tremble.  Slowly he began to stretch his wings.  He looked back once more to the barnyard and then fixed his gaze toward the sky.  At last . . . . With a triumphant cry he soared into the heavens.
        From that moment on, the eagle was living life as an eagle.  Now it may be that the eagle still remembers the chickens with a certain fondness and nostalgia.  It may even be that he occasionally revisits the barnyard.  But as far as anyone knows, he has never returned to the barnyard to live the life of a chicken.  He truly was an eagle, even though he had lived the life of a chicken.
        Just like this eagle . . . . . people who have learned to think of themselves as something they are not can re-decide in favor of what they really are.

So, this is the story.  A story about accepting ourselves as less than what we could be.  About living life without taking risks and experiencing our true potential.  We think we are chickens because we have accepted a perception about ourselves that is less than our capabilities.  In truth, we are eagles with the potential to soar, to be free to experience our true essence.  But we often find ourselves in the barnyard . . . . feeling safe and fearful.  We often feel no sense of life’s purpose or direction.

Are you stretching your wings???

 

 

Who has expectations for your life?

 

 

What high expectations do you need help to meet?  Who is your “naturalist?”

 

 

Are there any unrealistic expectations people have for you?  (yourself included!)

 

 

What “chicken” behaviors do you hold on to???  Why do you hang on to them??

 

 

How can you get rid of your “chicken” behaviors??

 

 

What “eagle” purpose do you have???

 

 

If you were the eagle . . . .What is one thing that you can relate to?