You know the story of the farmer who in his back yard had chicken, and then he had a chicken that was a little odd looking, but he was a chicken. It behaved like a chicken. It was pecking away like other chickens. It didn’t know that there was a blue sky overhead and a glorious sunshine until someone who was knowledgeable in these things came along and said to the farmer, “Hey, that’s no chicken. That’s an eagle. “Then the farmer said, “Um, um, no, no, no, no man. That’s a chicken; it behaves like a chicken.
“And the man said no; give it to me please. And he gave it to this knowledgeable man. And this man took this strange looking chicken and climbed the mountain and waited until sunrise. And then he turned this strange looking chicken towards the sun and said, “Eagle, fly, eagle. “And the strange looking chicken shook itself, spread out its pinions, and lifted off and soared and soared and soared and flew away, away into the distance. And God says to all of us, you are no chicken; you are an eagle. Fly, eagle, fly. And God wants us to shake ourselves, spread our pinions, and then lift off and soar and rise, and rise toward the confident and the good and the beautiful. Rise towards the compassionate and the gentle and the caring. Rise to become what God intends us to be — eagles, not chickens .
Speech by Desmond Tutu
posted by: AngryGrayRainbows
Angry Gray Rainbows 
This story was so touching. Made an uber-sensitive person like me cry. It reminds me that I need to fulfill my potential, because doing otherwise would be like a crime against the universe. Which also reminds me, I should finish watching Joan of Arcadia, I’ve only seen a few of the first episodes but it had a similar message.
One of my favorite quotes is by Stuart Wilde:
“The way things are is the way things are. Accept that. By doing so, it sets you free. Then if you don’t like the way things are, you can set about changing them. But the first point of your empowerment over circumstances is to stop struggling against them and accept them.”
~sas
Oh Sassygirl.. I love that quote. Thank you for sharing.
I think the concept of acceptance is one that is misunderstood a lot in our culture. Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up. It means acknowleding reality and moving on from there. This is a way of thinking that has helped me so much in life.
Mars,
I cried when I first read that story too.
Like you, it reminds me of potential, but in a slightly different way…
It makes me think of all the ways I hold myself down and all the ways I sell myself short and it makes me want to fly.