AMBITION:
What one great thing would you aspire to do if you knew you could not fail? Why is it that many of us are content with so little? Why not reach out for something big! Many times when we set out to be, have, or do something, we allow external forces to question our ability. More often, it is our own self-limiting beliefs. We all aspire to achieve our dreams but we are often afraid and begin to question our ability to accomplish what may seem impossible. You must begin immediately to create and reinforce your belief in action. Eliminate doubt, despair, and other limitations from your mind. Every high aspiration is an intimation of possible achievement. You are given the power to dream and you are also given the power to make those dreams come true.
One day, quite by accident, a farmer found an eagle’s egg lying on the ground. Not knowing it was an eagle’s egg, he carried it to his chicken coop and placed it beside some eggs in a hen’s nest. The hen, not knowing the difference, covered the egg with her wings and protected it through its incubation period. Soon, the eagle hatched among a brood of domestic chickens. As it grew up it mimicked the actions of the chickens. It leaned to cluck, scratch, and bob when it walked. It flapped its wings to fly only a few feet in the air. It ate seeds and insects and had no reason to believe it was not a chicken. One day the little eagle looked up in the sky and saw the most majestic creature it had ever seen soaring in wide circles. “What is that?” the little eagle asked in awe. “That,” said a nearby chicken, “is an eagle, the greatest of all birds.” “That’s what I want to be!” exclaimed the eagle. “You’re crazy,” exclaimed the domestic hen. “You can’t be an eagle. You’re a chicken.” So, the little eagle hung its head and began scratching the ground. “I guess you’re right.”
For its whole life the eagle continued living among the chickens, not knowing what kind of potential it had, not knowing it was born to soar. It never tried to fly higher than a few feet or eat different food. He was convinced that anything else was impossible. And when the eagle died, it died a chicken.
Use your ambition to rise above mediocrity. Dream what you dare to dream, do what you dare to do, and be what you dare to be. You were born to soar higher and higher toward great achievement. Don’t allow ‘chicken thinking’ to hold you back from pursuing your dreams. You can never soar among the eagles if you continue scratching and thinking like a chicken. –Alexander Lockhart.
