“How do the birds make great sky circles…They fall and falling they are given wings.”

–Rumi

Yesterday I watched a remarkable video over on Karen’s blog. It spoke to me about the way we give up parts of ourselves — incredibly authentic parts — in order to present a facade that we think will appeal to others.  I began to think about all the time and energy we consume in our efforts to fit into a mold that society, including us, has declared is acceptable.   I began to think about what we might be doing with that time and energy if we decided to reclaim our authenticity.  What might we create or achieve if only we had the time.

Do you have regrets?  Are there things you’ve always wanted to do that have been displaced by your efforts to fit an acceptable mold?  As we accept the stereotype as our own identities, we become critical of the things we desire that might set us apart.  We may blame the group for redefining us and holding us back from following the desires of our hearts, but the truth is that we do it to ourselves.  Over time, our truth becomes eroded by our fear of not fitting in — even though the mold seems too tight and we know deep inside that we only pretend to be comfortable there.

As time passes, we define ourselves by the box we have chosen to inhabit; and we push away the dreams that call us back to being who we really are.  We accept our new identity as true and fear that we would fail at anything that doesn’t fit inside our chosen mold.  It is only by taking the first step toward a resisted dream that we will learn that there is more outside the box and more inside of us.  We may fall in the beginning; but, as Rumi says, it is by falling that the birds learn to use their wings and make great circles in the sky.

What is your hidden passion?  Can you stop regretting the lost years spent on other things and take the first step toward realizing your dream?  It is never too late to take to the sky and learn how to fall.  We only fail when we stop trying.  It is in learning how to fall gracefully that ultimately we learn to fly.