The Comfort Zone - a story

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from
Arabia. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever
seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though
one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the
other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the
falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the
member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace
window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having tried
everything else, the king thought to himself, "May be I need someone more
familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So
he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above
the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this
miracle."

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king.
The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your
highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential as human
beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the
things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most
of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the
comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre
instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves
to the glory of flight.