“You were not meant for crawling…so don’t.

You have Wings.

Learn to use them and fly”-Rumi

I wear a sliver of a hat every Spring as a B&B owner. I have a little Bluebird House B&B attached to my porch. The bluebirds being very dependable tenants come every spring to enjoy the space reserved. As a landlord, I have to admit I am a bit of a snoop. I get to observe what happens as long as I don’t intrude on their feelings of safety.

Sometimes the bright blue father perches on a tree branch with a worm in his mouth, gives me the evil eye to leave the porch and only then will he enter the nest. If I don’t move the parents act like tourists just passing, without an agenda.

They have no idea how much of my energy is tied up in making sure that they have a great experience because I want them to come back next year.

Some years I get to see the babies testing their wings. Tentative at first, they stand on the ledge; gulp the air around them which must be a tripping experience after spending many days in dark, restrictive quarters.

At first they are cautious and stay close, but once they have a taste of freedom I have never see them turn back.  I see them next, crossing the road flying back and forth from branch to branch; tree to tree. Soon they are gone. Maybe later on they’ll remember their first home and come back to visit or to start a family of their own.

In order to fly, the birds have to trust. They have to open their wings. It is an absolute necessity. They have to open to rise and in taking that leap, they naturally expose what up until then was hidden; their tender  little underbellies.

I was thinking as to how many ways we are like the baby bluebirds and not only when we are babies.

When we are realize that we have become stagnant and need to make a course  correction, or a new beginning is ripening we have to go to the edge of our comfort zone. We in our own way have to risk a flight into freedom. I have never seen a risk towards growth, ever be regretted. It might be difficult at first if we gulp too much air, but like the bluebird we can move gradually over each and every threshold. Risking for growth is rewarded a thousand times over; so much so that many consider it magical. And so it is.