The ways of the eagle, and thought I’d highlight the lessons that we can learn from them.
Consider the eagle…..
Eagles fly alone or with their own kind. Life lesson: Associate with people who are at your level, or who can help you to grow. Also, not everyone will share your vision or dream. Find people who think like you so that you can both dream and grow together. Don’t waste your time with naysayers and negative people. And don’t share your dreams with just anybody. You’ve got a dream? Protect it!
Eagles have excellent vision and concentration. To catch their prey, they focus on it with laser like intensity, and set out to get it. Life lesson: Do the same with your goals. Focus on one thing to accomplish at a time. Give it your effort, time and energy. Focus and “set out to achieve it”.
Eagles feed on live food/meat. They don’t eat dead animals. Life lesson: Don’t waste your energy and time beating a dead horse. Know when to say goodbye and let go. Keep your options open and your information current. Do your research and preparation. Keep things current and keep them moving.
Eagles love the storm. They get excited when storm clouds gather. Why? They welcome the challenge it brings. They know the storm winds will lift them above the clouds. Above the clouds, they can rest their wings and become stronger. Life lesson: Get excited about the storms in your life. Challenges bring opportunities. We could see the opportunities, wrapped in our challenges if we weren’t so busy, complaining and trying to avoid them. Embrace our challenges and learn from them. That’s how we learn new skills, grow and get stronger. Is this easy to do? Of course not. But we can learn how to.
The eagle tests the level of commitment before engagement. Before entering into a commitment, the female eagle tests her male suitors to establish his level of commitment. Life lesson: It is wise to ascertain the commitment of people we intend to partner with. This is true in our personal as well as professional lives. Establishing trust is important in relationships.
The eagle is a master of change management. The mother eagle carefully prepares the nest for its eggs. When it is time for the eaglet to learn to fly, the mother begins to remove the comfort layers from the nest, exposing the pricks and sticks. She then throws the eaglets out of the nest. She does this repeatedly until the eaglet learns to fly. Out of fear, the eaglet jumps back in the nest, with each attempt, shrieking and bleeding from the pricks in the nest. The mother doesn’t yield. To others looking on this may seem heartless. But there is a method to the madness. The process is repeated until the eagle eventually starts flapping its wings, getting stronger and stronger with each flap. Then — swoosh! Away it goes into the air, flying higher and higher. Rising above its challenges and pain. Life lesson: We must not become complacent in life; clinging to the old and familiar. We can only grow if we are willing to step out of our comfort zone. The thorns or pain in life are there to tell us that 1. there is nothing more for us where we are, and 2. it is time to move on, grow and spread our wings. Further, the people who genuinely care about us will not encourage us in our slothfulness and fear. While their treatment may seem unkind, it is for our ultimate good. Sometimes tough love is best. They don’t want us to die in our nest!
Rebirth involves death of the old-self. The eagle has to make a painful decision at around age 40. Die or go through a painful process of rebirth which will extend its life for 30 more years. This process involves the painful task of knocking out its own beak and plucking out its talons so that new ones can grow. This entire process takes about 5 months to complete. Life lesson: No pain, no gain. Many of us want success or change, but without the sacrifice, handwork, disappointments and heartbreak that comes with it. To survive and grow, we must be willing to change. And sometimes, we may even need to go a step further — a death of the old self and a total rebirth. Ending toxic relationships, leaving toxic jobs, getting rid of destructive habits, thoughts, traditions and mind-sets that no longer serve us.
