Flying Into the unknown
Recently, a small, yellow bird flew into my house through the back door late in the afternoon. Because the ceilings of my house are high, and there is a ledge that connects the vaulted ceilings, the bird found places to perch; the leaves of the plant on the ledge, doors, picture frames, the ceiling fans and light fixtures.
As the sun went down, the house was darkening, and though the back door was wide open, the bird was unable to perceive how she could make her escape. She flew from fan, to light fixture, to ledge, to the top of the door, but she wasn’t able to see the door that was open for her. I watched the bird as her wings rapidly fluttered, and she flew from one end of the house to the other, seemingly panicked at the idea of being stuck in a large cage.
I decided to focus on other tasks in hopes that she would eventually fly out, and began to reflect on the scenario. It occurred to me that we humans are so much like this bird, and I thought to myself:
“How many times have I flown back and forth, trying to get back into the same door, looking for different solutions? How many times have I tried the same thing over and over when the answer is beyond my perception?”
It was about two hours before she flew outside to the back patio, where she perched under the eaves of the house, and then back into the house again. I laughed, as I was reminded of myself, and how many times I’ve “flown back” to the same things expecting different results.
Frantic, she flew out and in two more times before I was able to close the door fast enough so that she wouldn’t fly back in. Once outside with the door shut, I watched as she flew just beneath the eaves and perched on the string of lights. Finally, with a simple maneuver, the sky opened up before her, and she flew into the night, free once again.
After she flew away, I began to reflect on the idea that if we humans don’t choose to fly into the unknown, our lives can become unfulfilling, narrow-focused or stagnant. If we don’t take risks, we may miss opportunity, and if we stick to what is familiar expecting different results, we set ourselves up for disappointment.
For the most part, the human life is programmed to choose the safe option, to go with what’s already known, to assess all possible scenarios before making a decision. And though this may be prudent in certain situations, if we want to grow or create change in our lives, there may be times when we are called to choose the unknown.
So often in life, we find ways to limit our experiences by sticking to what is familiar and what we have known in the past, because in our minds, this feels “safer” than stepping into the unknown and trying something new. We use the same resources, choose the familiar patterns, habits or routines, simply because it’s what we know and trust.
We’re often so afraid of what we don’t know, that we miss possibilities in a universe of unlimited potential.
In order to be open to unlimited potentials, we have to let go. This means releasing expectations, releasing attachment to ideas and thoughts, releasing the things we know it’s time to let go of….and this action of letting go creates space for the new.
Letting go isn’t giving up, it’s trusting in ourselves—trusting that growth and change can happen, that something we may never have thought of before can bring something good, necessary or different into our lives. Always choosing what we know limits our growth and potential, especially when we know we need to grow and change, emotionally, spiritually, mentally or physically.
It can feel scary to take risks, to do something new or different, yet if you can remind yourself that you’ve made it this far, you begin to build trust in yourself, and gain strength to keep going. In order to grow, we must learn to trust ourselves to keep going, even if the outcome of a new venture isn’t exactly how we thought it would be.
We have to be able to trust ourselves to pick ourselves up, even when learning how to fly takes us to the ground. Learning to trust the self is being vulnerable enough to admit that there may be times when we need help, or that we may have to be open to a new concept, idea, or way of thinking.
Trusting the self does not mean you have it “all figured out”, or even that it will work out. Trusting the self is admitting that there is more to know, more to learn, more to experience, beyond what your imagination may come up with.
Flying into the unknown is where growth occurs and innovation is born. This is where we have the potential to find new joy—and yes challenge—but perhaps more often than not, a feeling of satisfaction and a healthy sense of self-worth. We are not meant to stay the same. We are not meant to do the same things over and over again. We are meant to spread our wings and create new in our lives, even if the light in the distance is dim, and we have a hard time seeing in the dark.
-Jane Miners