When I came back home that day, I was no longer the starry-eyed baby I was that morning. I flapped my wings twice and puffed out my chest proudly as my mother nodded in approval. She didn’t need to say it but I saw the pride in her eyes. Not every one of us usually made it back alive on the first day. I realised how difficult it must have been for her to push me down that ledge and I understood that it was necessary for me to grow into maturity. One of her favourite quotes was that it is only adversity that can truly shape one. That night, we ate our meal in silence. It was a squirrel she had haunted earlier that evening. For the first time I ate with so much gusto. Maybe it was because I had actually seen the end of my life flash before my eyes several times that day, maybe the adrenaline was still pumping through my head or maybe I was relishing my new found status. All I knew was that it felt good to be me at that moment.
As I chewed my meal, I had a sudden flash back and experienced the same level of panic I had felt when I fell off that ledge. I had truly panicked and my wings suddenly seemed glued to my body. I couldn’t collect my thoughts well enough to know what to do. It was when I was so close to a protruding rock that I suddenly spread my wings and some unseen force propelled me upwards. My mother later told me that she would have swooped down to rescue me before I hit the rocks but at that point, I was so afraid that I believed that she must have wanted me to die.
Admiring my mother’s calm exterior, I asked her how she was able to fly so well. She said to me, ‘Practice, my son. There is hardly any thing you can be good at in this life without practice’.
The next day, mother came home without any food for me. Initially I thought she must have hidden it somewhere for me to find it but it was when she lay down to sleep that night that I realised that I was to go to sleep hungry. I went to her and asked her if she had eaten. I felt as if the winds had knocked me down when she said yes. I felt betrayed so I asked her why she didn’t bring any home for me. That was when she told me that I was old enough to fend for myself. ‘But I’ve never gone hunting before,’ I protested. ‘One day begins a story,’ she said to me. I went to bed that night feeling hurt. It was obvious she didn’t love me anymore. Pushing me down the ledge was not enough for her, she also had to starve me. I made up my mind that I was going to find my own food the next day and I would derive so much joy from proving to her how strong I was.
As I flew out the next day, I kept reminding myself how good I was. I had achieved a feat most of my friends were yet to achieve. I circled a cluster of trees like I had seen my mother do. I was there for a few minutes and I became impatient. I remembered my mother saying that sometimes she had to wait for hours before finding prey. I couldn’t imagine waiting for hours. I was hungry and tired. I shifted impatiently wondering if I was ever going to find any prey. It was six hours later that my wait was finally rewarded. I saw a little head peaking out through the hole in a tree as though it wasn’t sure whether to come out or not. I silently wondered if the creature knew I had been there all along. Slowly, it came out and then darted across the branch to the other side of the tree. I remained in my position silently waiting for the best moment to strike. Not having seen any danger lurking around, the little creature suddenly climbed down the tree and moved to the rocky path. I was still in the same position however, I was no longer patient. I must have lost my patience when hunger clamped his iron hands around my stomach. I therefore suddenly flew out of my position and swooped down, diving straight for the little creature. I had replayed several times in my head, the way I would grab the first creature I set my eyes on. Besides it was something my mother did everyday so I never expected it to be difficult. However it was the moment I got closer to it that I realised how fast little creatures could move. With the speed of light, it suddenly darted back into the hole it had come out from. It may have been the way my wings created a shadow, blocking out the sun or the amount of noise I had made but I was certainly not fast enough for it. I stood there in frustration, watching my meal taunting me from inside the hole. I clawed at the tree in impotent rage all to no avail. I wanted to wait a little longer but I noticed that the sun was fast disappearing into the darkness and my mother had told me that we never stay out at night.
I went home that night not knowing which was more painful, my wounded pride or my empty stomach. I had gone out that morning feeling like the king of the sky. I never believed I could be humiliated by such a small creature. My mother was in front of our home. I was too ashamed to be angry with her for not providing my meal. When I came closer, she dropped something at my feet. It was a small beaver, so wounded, it was almost dead. I quickly grabbed it and sank my claws into it.
‘Patience is a virtue,’ Mother said to me. ‘Nobody ever attains success all of a sudden. You work hard and you practice and no matter what, you do not relent.
‘But mother, I failed,’ I was downcast. ‘I’m not good enough. I’m not as strong as you are’.
‘Yes, you are not as strong as I am but you will be. Don’t judge yourself by what you were unable to achieve on your first try, rather you should be proud of yourself for your courage to try. Failing at something doesn’t make you a failure. You are only a failure when you give up and quit trying. Always magnify your learning over your experience. Whenever we fail at something, our first instinct is to deride ourselves and magnify our failure. However, you must learn to focus on what you have gained form the failure. What you learn from failure is usually more deeply ingrained than what you achieve easily. The next time you go out to hunt, you will surely be more successful’.
I looked at my mother’s calm face, wondering how she got to be so wise. When I went to sleep that night, I assured myself that I would go back there the next day and keep trying till I finally succeed.
SUCCESS IS NEVER FINAL AND FAILURE IS NEVER FATAL. IT IS COURAGE THAT COUNTS.
There is more to life than what we see. We just have to be vigilant enough to know it in our youth. Search for happiness in life but always remember that happiness consists of the things you were able to achieve for others and not yourself. Life is only meaningful when others are happy because of you. A time will come in your life when you will ask yourself if all the years you spent on earth were worth it.
