Fly Like a Really Smart Eagle

Uh oh.. this is the year I turn 40! How did that happen? Makes sense though.. my kids are getting old enough to drive and such so I guess I get to start feeling ancient.

Something happened the other day that I think is an important message for me to carry into the new year. I'm deciding to use this lesson to make my manifesto for 2018.

I was driving Josiah to school (he happened to be the only kid in the car that morning). We saw an eagle up ahead on the road trying to pick up a roadkill rabbit. A truck was approaching him in that lane and we saw the eagle struggle to pick up his prize and get out of the way. He realized he couldn't fly off while holding on to the rabbit, so he dropped it, and flew off to safety.

Josiah piped up, "They lied to me, Mom! I watched a documentary that said eagles will die when they choose prey that's too heavy for them. Their talons lock onto it and they can't get up."

I said, "Hmm.. well, I guess that was a really smart eagle."

We researched it later and found out that the talon locking thing is actually false. They are sometimes seen in the water clinging to a salmon and "rowing" to shore with their wings, but that's not because they can't let go. It's because they know the value of that salmon.

The lesson for me is: sometimes I come upon something in life that looks like a good prize. It may have landed right in front of me and therefore I think it's provision that I need to accept. However, sometimes I pick up these "provisions" and they end up being too heavy for me. They drag me down instead of giving me life.

This year, I hope that I can let go of the things that keep me from flying. I also hope that I'll know which things are like that really good salmon and are worth clinging to and looking rather awkward as I bring them to the shore. The really convenient thing is, that since I live by the sea, I often wake to the sound of the eagles crying, and I often see them soaring over me. I don't think I'll be able to escape the reminders: "Ashley, choose to be a really smart eagle."