from Arabia. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he
had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be
trained.
Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that
though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the
sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had
arrived.
The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to
the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task
to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the
palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having
tried everything else, the king thought to himself, "May be I need
someone more
familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this
problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."
In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high
above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of
this miracle."
The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the
king. The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"
With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy,
your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."
We are all made to fly — to realize our incredible potential as human
beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to
the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but
for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar,
the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are
mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.
So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free
ourselves to the glory of flight.
