Fright, Fight or Flight... Conversation of the losers

Hope you enjoyed the first part of this parable ( https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/article/fright-fight-flight-arvind-thakore/edit?trk=pulse-edit-nav_art ) posted last week. The story would have ended, had there not been a call from my buddy Surajit and an insight from Mr. Mukherjee and few other friends who took time out to share their experiences. Thank you all.

And the story continues…

The farmer strolled back to his farm with the mixed feelings and the flock of his birds after thanking the man to who had made his dream partially realized.

The doves, the quails and the flinches on the other hand were busy finding reasons why they couldn’t fly.

Frustrating, said the goose. I could have made it better then that duck. She is farmers’ favorite child else I would have shown, I could make it better.

Who do I need to prove, said the quail. I am getting my feed, sleep and fun at the farm. If I fly, the farmer will cut the feed with the expectation that I will get some feed myself. Why on earth will I do that, continued the quail.

I tried once flying chirped the flinch. Flying is a pain in the feathers.

By now the restless fowl, came with his morbid tale. I saw the neighbors fowl fall from the flight last evening and broke his leg, intervened the concerned fowl.

I tried flying once last evening, the flight was rough and I saw you smiling on my unsuccessful attempt, said one amongst the equals.

The duck soaked in pride and drenched with achievement with occasional levitation she had just learned, was listening to the conversations of her fellow aviary mates, and so was a cunning fox through the bush on the pathway.

It’s an easy hunt, fox calculated quickly.

By now the daylight had receded and the dusk was spreading its covers. Unaware of the imminent threat the goose, the fowls, the quails and the flinch’s were busy debating their failure of the flight.

By now the cunning fox had gone through the entire conversation and was sure that the goose, the quails, the fowls and the flinch’s were no match for his skills to kill.

Just as the flocks turned around the dark ally, the fox appeared in front of the flock with the lust of a sumptuous dinner and before the farmer and the flock could realize, the quail was in grips of the fox gasping for air. The goose, the fowl and the flinch fluttered their wings hard as they could, because they knew that it’s their flight that will save them. It was not the safe heavens of the farm anymore, they quickly realized. To their amazement, they all levitated a couple of feet above the ground, enough to be out of bounds of fox.

By now, farmer reacted and the fox ran back in the woods with the prized catch, the quail.

All birds by now were in flight, but the quail.

As the dust of this incidence could settle, to everyone’s surprise, the frail man from the cliff along with the fox and the quail appeared before the farmer and his flock. He handed over the exasperated quail to the farmer and disappeared in the woods with his fox.

It’s a story we all go through in our lives every day. We blame organizations, bosses, coaches, trainers, superiors, colleagues, teammates, parents for everything we haven’t achieved. We are loud sharing our grudges that gives foxes a chance to hunt us. We only flap feathers when absolutely necessary.

The beliefs we make, shapes our action and directs our destiny. The change comes through internal conversation and with the self discovery and not by speaking it loud. It’s important to voice your thoughts but it’s equally important to converse it internally. Fear is an unpleasant emotion that we consider irrational or unexplained and associate an imminent danger as an outcome. As we change the experience of the outcome the fear vanishes.

There is only one way to fly… spread your wings, trust your outcome and be prepared to assemble the experiences.

When you give up to your failure you die, when you take up on your failure you fly.

And at last… a true coach will make you fly.

Happy flying.