A fledgling standing at the edge of the nest, peering out at its first flight. I don't know much about bird psychology, but I can't help but wonder what goes through its mind.....Fear of falling? Fear of failure? Fear of death?... After all, in leaving the nest and trusting itself to untested wings, it is taking a risk....a risk which carries with it the chance to fall to a painful death, but also, the chance to spread its wings, and truly become a bird!!
The world today is watching a crisis unfold at the international level....a crisis which resulted from taking risks. The chances of failure were high, but the returns of success could be a dream come through!...And the economies of the world today know the effects of that risk.
So then, what does one do? Take a risk? Or play it safe.
Perhaps the answer to this lies more in considering the latter option. What would be the consequences of playing it safe in a particular situation? It could be that nothing at all happens, and status quo remains undisturbed, in which case, if progress or evolution of some sort was not your aim, it would be ideal to leave the risks on the street and close your door to taking chances.
However, if playing it safe could result in losing what you value most...well, then I'd say the answer is obvious.
The fledgling could stay snug. Stay safe. Stay alive...Never fly. And ultimately die. And so, though it may not appear so to the little bird, probably the best thing that could happen to it, is for circumstances (in the form of the ever patient mother bird) to push the fledgling out of its comfort zone, and nudge it over the wall of the nest.
Grateful.
6 years ago
