posted October 16, 2007 03:50 PM         

The Eagle who Soared with the Chickens

By Barbara Rother

I want to tell you a story. There was this baby eagle, just new to this world, so excited to be here and learn what the great adventures ahead of him were all about. The mother eagle was taking him and the rest of the brother and sister eagles out on a grand first flight. This was to be their first outing to spread their wings. You can envision them stepping out of the nest, taking that first jump out of safety—the feeling of anxiety but excitement at the same time. See this eagle right now as he flies with the rest of the young eagles and the mother so proudly encouraging them saying, “Go this way. Spread your wings and fly. See what this world is about and how strong you can be.” But this baby eagle, his wings were not as strong as the others. He was toward the back of the group trying so hard to keep up. As he spread his wings, he began to falter. He didn’t know why he could not be as strong as all the rest. The other young eagles, along with the mother, were looking ahead and didn’t notice that he started to lose his strength and he started swirling down toward the ground. He was so dizzy he did not know where he was going. No one even noticed he wasn’t with the group any more.

The baby eagle lands at a chicken farm and says, “Where am I? I feel so strange…” He was knocked out for a minute and truly didn’t know what his reality was now. He looked up and saw the mother eagle and the other baby eagles flying off. He felt abandoned, like they didn’t care. He decided to pick himself up and found that his wings were damaged and there was no way he could fly now. He looked up to see that he was surrounded by all the little baby chicks on this farm that were new to this world too. As they came up, along with the mother hen and a rooster, they looked at him and said, “Well, you’re a bird, but you’re very different from us. But we’re going to take you under our wings and accept you and give you unconditional love. Feel the love we have for you. We don’t care that you look different. We don’t care that you have these awkward wings that are broken. We don’t know where you came from, but to us, you came down from the heavens, so be a part of our family and we’ll nurture you and love you until you’re ready to take flight again and find out where you should be.”

The eagle felt so loved. He didn’t care what was happening or that he was supposed to have another path because he had that unconditional love and a feeling of support. He began to be a chicken even though that was not his true nature. Day by day he grew and began getting stronger and test his wings. He started to take short flights but knew he couldn’t go up high enough to where he could find his original family. The day came where his real mother was searching for him. All the other eagles had gone on because they were strong and could make their own way, but the mother finally found this baby eagle that she had missed so dearly. She picked him up and said, “Say goodbye to your adopted family because you are meant to go back now so I can show you who you are truly meant to be.” So, with tears in his eyes, the baby eagle said goodbye and said, “I love you all unconditionally, too. Thank you for taking me in and showing me that life can be an adventure even if I did take a side path.”

Wherever life takes you, you can find joy even with others you didn’t think were part of your family. If you open up your heart and your mind, you can find a home anywhere. The mother eagle helped the baby eagle up. She said, “Fly! Spread your wings!” And he did. He knew his earlier struggles had only made him stronger. As he flew away, he soared down one more time to say goodbye to the ones who gave him so much. He said, “I will return to visit. I feel safe. I feel strong. You will always be in my heart and my mind. I will never forget what you gave me.” As he flew off, looking for the next adventures that lay ahead of him, he said, “Thank you for showing me that there are many different ways that you can live your life. Now it’s time to spread my wings and fly.”

Spread your own wings. See how strong you are. Enjoy the flight. And so it is.

In Love and Light,

Barbara Rother

posted November 08, 2007 11:59 PM         

I missed this. Wonderful and inspiring story, Star Daughter

Having taken a few of those sidetrips from my path in my life I have experienced that there were great lessons to learn on those detours.