As we get ready to celebrate the ending of this year and the beginning of a new year, a lot of thoughts have been swirling through my head. It is the time to make plans for our lives and businesses, to create new goals and make resolutions. Even though I know you can make a fresh start any day of the year, there is just something about standing at the edge of new year and seeing that big, blank canvas in front of you. It is both invigorating and frightening.
I was reminded of a show I watched a few months ago (probably on PBS) about eagles. It was fascinating to learn more about these majestic creatures. One thing that stuck with me was that moment when the baby eagles finally take their first flight from the nest. It is breathtaking to watch them realize that they have the ability to not just fly but to soar and glide so beautifully through the sky.
The eagles do not just sit in the nest for a few months then one day have the ability to fly. For months they hop around the nest, moving their wings, building up their strength, gaining coordination. They look a bit silly as they flap around in the nest, jumping up and down, flopping around, going up and down, up and down. Eventually they are able to get a little air and rise up above the nest, sometimes even to the next tree branch. They may venture out a little past their nest at this point but not for long. They come back to the safety of the nest for a while longer. It takes time to build their wings, to grow the ability to be able to fly.
One day they realize that are not meant to stay in the safety of that nest or in that tree. They have seen others soaring, gliding and flying and they just know it is time for them to do the same. They stand on the edge of the nest, spread their wings and then they fly just as majestically as all the other eagles they have been watching. It is in their nature, it is what God created them to do.
![By Ryan McFarland (originally posted to Flickr as Bald Eagle) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://ceoof.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/800px-Haliaeetus_leucocephalus_-Alaska_USA_-flying-8.jpg)
As we stand on the edge of the nest today looking out at the beauty of the new year that is stretched out before us, let us summon the courage inside so we can also take that first flight. We have been building up our wings long enough. We have been watching others experience the best of life for far too long. It is in our nature to fly, to soar, to thrive, that is what God created us to do. In the new year, let’s take that leap. It’s time, we are ready to fly…
