Merry Christmas to those who’ve been celebrating – I hope it’s all you’ve wanted it to be. We’re with family in country Victoria, outside of Melbourne in Australia and it’s glorious here. We hear Kookaburras’ singing in the evening and wake up to the strong scent of gum trees. It’s hard to explain that smell to someone who hasn’t experienced it before. The boys are having an absolute blast – lots of space for freedom and spending time with their cousins. They couldn’t be happier.
Anyhoo, last night my little Lexy, once again, expressed an enormous desire to fly after watching the movie Pan. I know most kids go through this phase to some extent, but I also know some yearn for it more than others. Lex is definitely in the latter category.
His intense desire to fly has been unwavering for years, and I’ll always remember the first time he asked me: “Mum why can’t I fly?
I immediately bit my tongue, before saying: “unfortunately you can’t fly darling, humans can’t fly.”
But I couldn’t say that to my Lexy. It didn’t feel right saying it either. I felt I would be putting a limitation on him, and just because no human has technically “flown” – with wings Vs manmade flying apparatus – I couldn’t tell him something was impossible, because every day I’m trying to let him know that nothing is impossible.
Besides, what do I know right?
So it almost seemed ordained when Robin Sharma posted this on Facebook this week (and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing it here). I think it sums up my rationale perfectly. I never want to limit my boys.
There was once a child who wanted to fly.
Deep in his heart he knew he could.
But many around him warned him to avoid his delusion.
So he started to dim his light.
And forget his dream.
He grew busy being busy.
And he grew older. Quickly.
One day, he met a magician.
“Make any wish and I’ll make it true.”
The boy, now a man, said “I used to know I could fly. Not really fly, but fly in the sense of do amazing things and create amazing works and live an amazing life. Fly like that.”
The magician listened.
“My life is so normal now. No fire. No energy. No hope. I think I’d like to feel I could fly again.”
The magician cast a simple spell.
The boy, now a man, woke up the next morning and started living an amazing life. It didn’t happen instantly, for nothing wonderful ever does (all great things take time and great sacrifice.”
But the man started to believe again. Just believe.
And the belief created hope. And the hope created better choices. And better choices created wiser consequences.
And the boy, now a man, went on to transform his world through his tiny daily improvements. And in so doing, he made our world better too.
Robin Sharma
So my darling boy, always believe you can fly and chase that dream no matter what, because flying (as a dream) is different for all of us, and the only thing that matters is believing you can, because then you will. Who knows what you can achieve little man? I can’t wait to see it.
It’s a sweet story right? I thought it might be nice for all of us to enjoy, especially if you believed it when you were told you couldn’t fly.
With love and without the bollocks
Andrea
