In the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach we learn of a very peculiar and interesting seagull. What makes this seagull so interesting? Well, maybe it’s best to read it directly from the source:
Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not the flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.
This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with the other birds. Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent whole days alone, making hundreds of low-level glides, experimenting.
…”Why, Jon, why?” his mother asked. “Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can’t you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross?
As you can see, Jon was a very determined seagull. While the other gulls were flying to eat, he was eating to fly. He not only wanted to understand the basic fundamentals of flying, he wanted to master the dynamics of flight.
From the first time I read these words, I found myself pondering this question, "Am I eating to fly or flying to eat?"It’s really a question of staying on purpose and pursuing one's desires. What am I here for today? Am I here to just take up space or am I here to make a difference? Will my efforts today make me a better “Flyer” for tomorrow? Or, am I quarreling with my colleagues over a piece of fish head?
Life is full of opportunities and choices. It is my hope that whatever your desires may be, your efforts are not done in vain, but rather with conviction - with determination - with a commitment to success that reflects your true character.
That you do not fly to eat, but rather eat to fly…
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