Near our house is a nature park with amazing exotic birds. One day, as I was watching their beautiful, colorful plumage in the sun, it struck me that most of the birds could actually fly away easily. They would just have to use their wings. There is nothing to stop them, but they still don’t fly away.
That really got me thinking.
Imagine you’re a bird, and there’s this wonderful but small place where you’re completely safe. There are no predators or other animals that pose a threat to you. You would never have to worry about where you were going to get your food. Basically, you would live in complete safety with all kinds of amenities. Sounds great, doesn’t it? But there’s a catch. The freedom would be limited. As soon as you leave your assigned area, you lose all those benefits. Because of the limited space, you would be very restricted and would not be able to practice flying, so you would lose almost all the power in your wings.
The other option means complete freedom in the wilderness. You could fly wherever you wanted, and your wings would become really strong. You could even cross oceans. But with this option, you would have to deal with a lot of uncertainties: You’d never know if you’d find enough food or if a predator was waiting behind the next tree. On the other hand, you will have interesting experiences and learn a lot. What do you ultimately choose? Total security or growth and freedom?
