Was sitting in my terrace garden this morning and heard the somewhat irritating sound of crows cawing out loud. Normally this means one of them is injured or there’s a monkey around, and they’re all set to attack the poor fellow.
I decided to save the victim or shoo the monkey away and got up to check and found there was no wounded crow on the ground, nor was the noise coming from any bird mob, but from a tree above where a pa and ma crow were trying to encourage their little fellow to fly out of his nest.
“Come on jump!” cawed the father.
“You’ve got to move on!” whispered his mother.
“I don’t want to,” cried the little fellow as he held tightly onto his home: A shaggy bundle of twigs, wires and branches put together. He didn’t know that if he jumped a fantastically new, wonderful world was out there, waiting to be enjoyed and conquered.
As I watched the little chap hesitating, my thoughts moved to a trapeze artist in a circus, swinging back and forth. And then she encounters another trapeze bar. It is swinging toward her and it is empty. Now she has a decision to make. She may continue to hang on to her present bar, or let go and grasp the new one.
But she can’t do both! She can’t hang onto the old and grasp the new with her other hand. She has to decide which she wants.
Life is like that, isn’t it? Sometimes you’ve to let go of something if you want to latch onto something new. Maybe you need to let go of an old job in order to take a new one or move out of an old relationship, before fitting a new one into your life. You have to let go other priorities on your time or money before grasping that new opportunity.
And for a while you may feel suspended in midair.
But like Pumba, from ‘The Lion King’ says, ‘Ya gotta put your behind in your past.’ Then you’re ready for whatever comes next.
I watched the crows, the father and mother, cajoling, coaxing and cawing to convince the little crow to jump. And then suddenly he straightened himself, looked the unknown in the face, lifted his wings just a bit and took the plunge.
My heart stopped as I felt him plummet downwards, I saw him suspended in mid-air, then suddenly his wings opened, the wind took him up, and he soared with its surge to enter a brand new world.
Are you listening?
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
Good one again. The security of the comfort zone coupled with the fear of the unknown discourage many from testing new waters and embrace changes thus ending up in stagnation and decay. As a result, both the self and the society pay a heavy price . As they say, the ship was not built to be moored to the safe harbour….
There’s a lot to learn from nature, if only we humans open up our minds and innovate!
Nowadays routine life itself is a trapeze game
Unless we are willing to let go and fly into the unknown we may not know what missed opportunities lie ahead..but do not throw caution to the winds!
Yes Bob,nothing ventured, nothing gained though it’s also said,fools rush where angels fear to tread. So we must flee from temptation to gain victory over others which will follow on to be masters of our willpower.
Success is confidence in yourself, trust in God and taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase .