Prairie Chickens and Eagles

What we believe about ourselves, or what we've learned to believe about ourselves over the years, has a direct impact on what we believe we can and can't do.  There is a Native American fable that illustrates this point beautifully.

According to the fable, a young brave found a nest filled with golden eagle eggs.  As a prank, he decided to see what would happen if he put one of the eggs in the nest of a prairie chicken.  Eventually the egg hatched and the eagle was raised with the family of prairie chickens.  He didn't have any reason to think he wasn't a prairie chicken so he scratched and clucked like all the others.

Years later the eagle saw an eagle soaring overhead and he marveled at the magnificent creature.  His prairie chicken brother assured him that no prairie chicken could ever possibly hunt or fly like the eagle, who the brother proclaimed to be the most majestic of all birds.

The golden eagle went back to his pecking, living and eventually dying as an earthbound prairie chicken, never realizing he was created to soar.

I'm guessing that many of us believe we're earthbound prairie chickens.  Perhaps we've been told this all our lives, or perhaps circumstances over the years have convinced us that dreaming of soaring is a foolish and wasted dream.  

This lovely fable has application to many areas of our lives, and it certainly applies to losing weight.  Believe you can - because you CAN!  Believe you can do more than just lose weight - believe you can maintain your weight loss and live a vibrant, healthy, THIN life - because you CAN!  While this plan works whether we believe it or not, what we believe about our ability to do it can impact the choices we make.  If we don't believe we can lose weight, we may self-sabotage and our cheating will reinforce our prairie chicken concepts.

I'm here to tell you that regardless of what you believe about yourself, you are an eagle.  You can do so much more - you can have so much more.  It doesn't matter if you've been pecking in the dust for a few years or your entire life, you can raise your wings and soar.  Choose to fly!  That won't happen in an instant, but it will happen one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)