Alone and indepedent over the deep blue sea
This morning I displayed this picture on my Facebook Author page. I found it to be beautiful and colorful, yet I think it has a story to be told, a story which offers a great learning point. This large seabird is beginning his day at sunrise and he will spend most of it searching for sustenance, for he must consume a huge intake of calories to keep his large body airborne many hours each day. His favorite meal, of course, to provide both the calories and the proper diet to keep him strong is fish. If he has a good day of fishing this day, he feasts. If he can't locate his prey, he goes hungry. It's as simple as that.
So, what I take from his life and his very survival is the individual nature of his challenge, the hard work and dedication to it that he takes and, now this is very important, his requirement to survive which is based on what he produces, not something given to him by someone else. This point is one that we humans can all consider a lesson in daily living, the importance of good parental guidance and the development of self-motivation therefrom to survive in a sometimes cold and heartless world.
You see, that big bird was once a chick with a Mom and Dad. They cared for him in the nest, fed him and protected him until he was old enough to learn how to spread his wings to fly. They patiently taught him the ways to live and survive and then, one day when he was still young but fully capable of finding his own food with the instinct for survival developed, they bid him goodbye. No, it wasn't to go off top college and stay in touch and come back and visit from time to time. It was just a final, abrupt goodbye and he was now on his own to survive or die. And while it might sound cold and heartless, it gave him the motivation to do what he must to live. There is no welfare line or food stamp card in"birdland," be it on the sea or on land. And there also is no empty room in the house where Mom and Dad will let him return to live off their dole. No, he either makes it or he doesn't.
The next time you see a big bird in the skies, be it a seabird like this big fellow or a hawk or even an eagle over land, remember how they got to be where they are. They passed a test better than any university graduate with no plans for the future. They've passed the test of natural preparation to survive and thrive on their own using the skills they've mastered. There is something really special about that which each of us needs to think about in our lives as individuals, parents and good citizens. A good life is really, in the end, up to us.
So, what I take from his life and his very survival is the individual nature of his challenge, the hard work and dedication to it that he takes and, now this is very important, his requirement to survive which is based on what he produces, not something given to him by someone else. This point is one that we humans can all consider a lesson in daily living, the importance of good parental guidance and the development of self-motivation therefrom to survive in a sometimes cold and heartless world.
You see, that big bird was once a chick with a Mom and Dad. They cared for him in the nest, fed him and protected him until he was old enough to learn how to spread his wings to fly. They patiently taught him the ways to live and survive and then, one day when he was still young but fully capable of finding his own food with the instinct for survival developed, they bid him goodbye. No, it wasn't to go off top college and stay in touch and come back and visit from time to time. It was just a final, abrupt goodbye and he was now on his own to survive or die. And while it might sound cold and heartless, it gave him the motivation to do what he must to live. There is no welfare line or food stamp card in"birdland," be it on the sea or on land. And there also is no empty room in the house where Mom and Dad will let him return to live off their dole. No, he either makes it or he doesn't.
The next time you see a big bird in the skies, be it a seabird like this big fellow or a hawk or even an eagle over land, remember how they got to be where they are. They passed a test better than any university graduate with no plans for the future. They've passed the test of natural preparation to survive and thrive on their own using the skills they've mastered. There is something really special about that which each of us needs to think about in our lives as individuals, parents and good citizens. A good life is really, in the end, up to us.
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