I used to be under the impression that birds flew instinctively. I mean, the wings and feathers? Birds fly. That’s what they do. You don’t have to teach a baby bird how to fly, right? I’m no orinthologist, so maybe it’s true that some birds just instinctively mount up on their wings? But the ones I saw did not suddenly start flying.

I’m not sure how old I was, but my great-grandfather had a small tree in the front yard with birds nesting in it. I vividly remember running down the side of the house and seeing the baby bird fall to the ground. It hopped a couple of times, stretched it wings, and chirped. Then, a second young bird hit the ground. I kept my distance so I wouldn’t scare them off, but I could not figure out what was happening and why birds were suddenly falling on the ground.

A few days later, the birds were gone and the nest was empty. I would not realize it until later, but the birds were learning to fly by being pushed out of the nest by their mother. Of course, there was no flying that day. They were all just slowly crashing to the ground.

I learned that it often takes multiple times of being pushed out of the nest for some birds to learn to really fly. Not just flap their wings and break their fall, not just fly a clumsy circle back to the nest, but to really soar. Birds have to develop their wings, and it takes getting pushed or jumping out of the nest to fully develop them.

I’m not a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut, but he did say one of the best lines I’ve read in a while:

We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.

That’s how it is with birds and with us. If you are too scared to step off the cliff, too scared to jump out of the nest, or too stubborn to let someone push you out of the nest, you will never fully develop your wings, your talent, your skills, your purpose.

God created an amazing world, full of adventure and possibility. What’s holding you back from fully developing your talents, living out your purpose, and making an impact in your community? What type of wings do you need to develop?

The neat thing is that he’s there to pick you up when you don’t quite have the wings to fly.

Which cliff do you need to jump off? I have a bunch. Let’s start jumping.

[Image from keithhull]

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