Once upon a time, there was a Bird named Birdie who had lived all its life with Pigs since it was hatched. It walks around like pigs, drags its feet like pigs and displays almost all the characteristics of a pig. But one day, Birdie saw a Bird in the sky and was surprised to see that a Bird could fly. Curiously, he went to Piggy Gee and said “ I just saw a bird like me in the sky flying. How did he do it?” Sarcastically, Piggy Gee replied, “How did he do it? That is what birds do. They fly!” Puzzled, Birdie asked, “So why can’t I fly?” Sarcastically, Piggy Gee answered, “It’s because you are with us fat pigs. We lift our fat bodies with our legs, and it is called walking. We don’t fly and don’t care about flying. Besides, we like your company here. Trust me, there’s nothing up in the sky”. Birdie replied, “How would you know, since you have never been in the sky?” Piggy Gee made a smirk and walked away. Birdie decided he was going to look out for the Bird in the sky. One day, he found the Bird in the sky and called out to him. The bird came down and they exchanged pleasantries. “Teach me how to fly,” Birdie said. “Teach you how to fly? You are a Bird and flying comes naturally”, the Bird responded. “You don’t understand,” Birdie said, “ I have lived with Pigs all my life. And all I know how to do is walk. Just show me how to start”. “Ok”, the Bird said, “you’ll start by running, stretch your wings, look up and lift. Once you are able to get off the ground, you will be able to ascend to the different levels in the sky, flapping your wings as you soar. But you must work with the winds. Flying is easier when you work with the winds”. Concerned, Birdie asked, “what if the wind is not going my direction?” The Bird laughed and said, “There is a wind for the different sides of the sky; there is the east wind, west wind, north wind and the south wind. So where ever you are going, there is a wind to assist you”. Excited about the news, Birdie asked again, “pardon me please, but how do I come down from the sky?” “No problem friend, it is the same principle. But this time, with your wings stretched out and flapping, you have to look down and then let the wind assist you. You will get down”. Birdie thanked the Bird, and watched it fly away.
For six days Birdie practised flying, and every time he made a lift he would haggle back down almost immediately. Worried, he hoped to see his friend in the sky to tell him how impossible it had been for him to fly after making a lift. One day, luckily for him, his friend in the sky came looking for him. “howdy friend, have you flown yet?” Sadly Birdie answered, “Noooo! It’s been frustrating. Every time I lift, I come crashing down almost immediately. I believe the wind is too much for me, because every time I lift, the wind hits me, I lose balance and come crashing down. My piggy friend laughs at me”. With empathy the Bird responded, “You are wrong my friend. No amount of wind is too strong for Birds, so long as you work with the wind. And by the way, how many feet high do you go before crashing down?” “Em, I’m not so sure,” Birdie responded. “But I doubt it is more than two hundred feet. The thing is, you know I have never been up in the sky, so I guess that I get scared sometimes and lose balance”. “Well, you have nothing to fear,” the Bird responded, ‘Birds don’t die”. Surprised, Birdie responded, ‘really, Birds don’t die? Wow! You mean I am going to live forever?” “Of course,” the Bird replied, “Birds don’t die, no matter what height they fall from. We are immortal. So forget about dying. You cannot die or get hurt. We Birds are very unique. “Okay then,” he continued, “I will help you with a lift up five hundred feet, and then let you off. Then all you’ll have to do is, working with the wind, just follow me everywhere I go. There’s a beautiful place I am going to show you. We will have lots of fun”.
Excited, Birdie came right on top of his friend as agreed, and up they went. By the time they were five hundred feet high, Birdie’s friend told him it was time to get off his back, and fly on his own. Of course, that was the highest Birdie had been, he was already enjoying it and was eager to soar on his own. Gently, Birdie got off his friend and soared with the wind and followed his friend turn by turn. Finally they got to a resting place, and landed. “Wow”, Birdie exclaimed, “that was so much fun. I love flying. I can’t wait to go again. It is easier than I thought. And this is a beautiful place. Thank you so much friend”. Smiling sheepishly his friend responded, “I’m glad you loved your flight. I told you flying comes naturally with Birds. But one more thing I really, really, really need you to know. Birds, I mean all kinds of flying creepy birds like you and I, we die”. “What?” Birdie exclaimed, “I don’t get it. I thought you said Birds don’t die?” “Yes I did, the Bird replied, “ I only said it, because I realised that fear was the factor behind your inability to fly. So I figured that if I could make you believe that Birds don’t die, you would summon enough courage to do what you already have the ability to do. See what I mean?” In sobriety Birdie responded, “ you are right, my friend. I was too afraid to die or get hurt, and that was why I failed to fly all the time. Thank you for helping me”. “You are welcome, my friend”, the Bird responded, “ so now you can fly all you want and get to wherever you want to be”. “Very true”, Birdie agreed. “But I have to go back to my friend Piggy Gee, and say my final good bye to him”. So Birdie thanked his friend, and flew back to Piggy Gee.
“Where have you been?” Pigee Gee asked. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you”. With a sense of pride, Birdie responded, “I’ve been where Birds go, up in the sky”. Very upset, Piggy Gee blurted out, “I told you there was nothing up in the sky!” “Oh Piggy Gee”, Birdie responded, “don’t be upset. Indeed, there is not much in the sky. Birds don’t live in the sky. We fly in the sky to get to anywhere in the world. The sky is our road. And it’s a beautiful world out there”. Looking down sadly he continued, “Unfortunately, I can’t take you. But I hope that some day you will be able to go by the road meant for you to discover your world. I have to fly away now. There are lots of possibilities out there that I have to discover. I will miss you my friend, and I will never forget you”. “But how are you going to make a friend like me? We’ve come a long way, you know?” Piggy Gee asked. “I will attract my kind”, Birdie responded, “my exact kind”.
As Piggy Gee watched, Birdie started off running, spread his wings, took a lift and up in the air he went. Soaring in the sky, Birdie exhilarated with excitement as the thoughts of endless possibilities and a new life filled his heart and mind. “The world is under me”, he thought, “ and I will conquer my world”.
The moral of the story; if you are an employer, keep in mind that no one is useless. If you have a staff who is not productive in the position you have put them, it is either they have not received enough training for the job, or they are just not right for the job. Degrees are good, no doubt, but most people have degrees in the area they are not fit for. They were probably misguided about a choice of career, or chose a career path for its popularity or ease of access. Job interviews should amongst all else, focus on hobbies, because hobbies or personal interests are directly or indirectly interwoven with an individual’s professionalism. In other words, you can find out what an individual is good at by examining their hobbies.
If you are an employee, you need to avoid just wanting to be in the happening place. People make a place happen, and not the other way round. Discover what and where you are good at and train yourself to be better at it. Don’t try to be like somebody else or compete with anyone, and don’t make money the focus. Money comes with the harvest. The sky is wide enough for all the Birds in the world. There are millions of discoveries yet to be made, and your name is on one or more of them. How do I know? Well, you have a unique way of doing simple things like; talking, laughing, thinking, imagining etc. Besides, your desires are not exactly the same as anyone else in the world. Your ability to desire a thing needs to align with your creative ability, which in turn would lead to discoveries unique to you.
Great minds attract, so choose carefully who you partner with or work for. There is this general misconception that it is the unemployed who needs the employer. It is like saying it is the husband or needs the wife or the wife who needs the husband. The fact is, everyone needs someone, so much so that when there is no one around aside from us, we start talking to ourselves. We were created that way, to coexist, give and receive. Any relationship, professional or otherwise, will either take you up or bring you down. You cannot remain the same. Birdie was in the wrong company since birth and didn’t know better than what he was exposed to. Piggy Gee lived a fulfilled life as a pig, but brought Birdie down to his level, and Birdie was not even doing well as a pig. He was just existing! It is not enough to exist. Not everyone who exists lives. When you live, your giving and receiving is effectual in all ramifications. Birdie could have died without tapping into his potentials. A Bird with wings that could fly far and wide would have died in a pig’s pen attempting to no avail to live a life foreign to it. What tragedy that would have been, and some of us are already leading this tragic life without knowing it. If after one year on your job, and you are not better or more challenged than you used to be, then you might need to do a rethink. You need to know if it is you or the job. If it’s the job, you will know by the fact that no one is innovative or trying to change anything. They are complacent with where they are. They compare themselves with people not up to them, and get comfortable with their level of success. This group of people forget that when growth ceases, death is imminent. My advice, run! But what if it is you? If the pay cheque is fat, you are probably blinded by it, and cannot see how stunted in growth you have become. The sad thing is, one day you will no longer be needed. The hype about you will be over some day, no matter how good you are. And if all you have lived for is “thirty days make one month income”, you’ll be damned. No matter how comfortable you are, do not stay on a job that does not cultivate you.
Lastly, I want to deal as briefly and as precisely as I can with the issue of fear. Everyone in this world is plagued with the fear of something. In fact, ninety percent of the world’s disaster is as a result of fear. One country fears another would be mightier than it and then takes a provocative step that leads to war. People fear to fail, do nothing and then end up failing. People have hurt other people out of fear. Birdie failed repeatedly to fly because he feared dying. But when he was deceived into believing he could never die, fear was lifted off of him and he soared to his highest height ever.
The wording of a popular hymn says, “He that is down needs fear no fall”. In other words, if you do not care to live, you will not be afraid of dying. If you do not care to succeed, you will not be afraid to fail etc. So it is safe to say that fear comes naturally to those with aspirations. So being afraid is not the problem, but not being able to deal with it so that it does not stay and pose a hindrance to you is the problem. I am not so sure how I can teach anyone how to deal with fear, except by the example that I live by. I face my fears and ask what the worse can be? And I find that whichever way a situation turns for the worse, there is always a way out. Simply put, every problem has a solution so fear not!
