There was a chicken farmer who found an eagle’s egg. He put it with his chickens and soon the egg hatched. The young eagle grew up with all the other chickens and whatever they did, the eagle did too. He thought he was a chicken, just like them. Since the chicken could only fly for a short distance, the eagle also learned to fly a short distance.
He thought that was what he was supposed to do. So that was all he thought he could do. As a consequence, that was all he was able to do. One day, the eagle saw a bird flying high above him. He was very impressed.
“Who is that?” he asked the hens around him. “That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” the hens told him. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth, we are just chickens.”
So the eagle lived and died as a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was.
Last week I touched on the topic of identity and the importance of knowing who you are and not who society thinks you are. Then I came across this fable which has made me evaluate who I think I am especially when I face certain situations. Am I a chicken or an eagle?
So often we walk around thinking we are chickens, conforming to the limitations we or others build around us, holding ourselves back from our full potential. Instead of spreading our wings like an eagle, soaring high above, we settle for short-distance flights close to our comfort zone.
You are an eagle, my friend! Despite your upbringing, your situation today, or what others think of you, you are an eagle.
Consider writing an identity statement. Visit it often, hang it on your bathroom mirror or your refrigerator. You will be amazed at the impact it will have on your life.
You are an eagle, you are meant to soar high…believe in yourself, spread your wings, and fly.
