Torch Lake, The Bald Eagle's Nest, and Learning to Fly

Over the 4^th of July, you will find hundreds of boats covering the Torch Lake sandbar up in northern Michigan.

It's the new Panama City of Spring Breaks, except in the middle of summer.

Since I was a young girl, every summer consists of trips to the sandbar.

My parents, aunt, uncle, cousins, brother and whatever friends we had up at our lake cottage, would pile in our small white boat, and make the trip from Elk Lake to Torch Lake. Eventually, our white boat was replaced with a larger boat, and later, pontoon. Our families both started growing, and with the added family members, came bigger boats.

No matter how much our family changes, there is one thing that always remains the same: Finding the Eagle's Nest.

Before we reach the sandbar, we have to go through a river that lasts about 15 minutes.  

On the banks of this river, up in the trees, is where the Bald Eagle's nest lies.
Without fail, once our boat reaches the river, my uncle or dad grabs the binoculars and scans.
From the oldest down to the youngest, we each become bird watchers, frantically scanning our eyes in an attempt to be the first one to find it.  
Sometimes, if we are lucky, we not only find the nest, but the Bald Eagle as well.

Now, I am not really a bird person.
The closest I have ever been to being one is when I was dating a guy who owned a hawk.
In fact, he once asked me if I would feed her baby rabbits when he was gone on vacation.
Needless to say, we didn’t last.

I remember hearing someone talk about how baby birds learn to fly.

Sometimes, the mom will actually push the baby birds out of the nest. Talk about tough love.
The baby bird is forced to learn how to flap their wings, wings that they don’t even know how to use, on the way down.
It’s not always perfect, and sometimes the baby bird falls to the ground.
But through practice and trust, the baby bird eventually learns to fly.  

Now, to me, this sounds horrible.

I’m not so much a fan of the quote, “Build your wings on the way down.”
I prefer to build them now, and then gracefully slide into the air, fully prepared for what lies ahead.
I would have the baby bird hiding in the back, being like, “Nope. Not going. Dad, Mom…Sorry. You are stuck with me for life.”

And it’s ok to be that baby bird hiding in the corner for a season.

But eventually, we all have to be pushed off the edge.

Right now, I am the baby bird being pushed off the edge.

I was in a writing session last night, when Nick, my writing partner, told me that he wanted me to perform a song all by myself.

He told me that he wanted me to not only play it, but sing it as well.  
Cue the questions that soon flooded my mind. Do you think I’m ready? What if I mess up? What if I get nervous and forget the words? What if I fail? I mean, I only started singing in front of people again in the last year. I get nervous just sitting there. Now I am supposed to play AND sing?

However, the only question I asked him was, “Do you think I am ready?”

To which his response was, “Yes.”

I have been extremely content to let him do all the work on the performance side.

He is the one that plays the guitar and does most of the singing.
And that has been fine for a season.  
He was one of the individuals who helped me get back into the spotlight. He helped me gain confidence in my songs and ideas. He was one of the people to help me find music again.

He believes in me.
Now, I must begin to believe in myself and my talent.

It’s scary and a large part of me wanted to tell him that I couldn’t do it.

But I didn’t.
Instead, I said, “Ok.”

I am never going to grow as a songwriter, or begin to reach my potential, with training wheels on.

At some point, I must learn to build my wings on the way down.

Like a good parent, God knows when we must be nurtured, and when we must be pushed into the open.

We don’t become the person we were created to be if we always play it safe and comfortable.
We can't discover our hidden potential when we refuse to stay in the corner.
And being the good parent that God is, He knows when we need to be pushed.

Now, there is a very good chance that I will mess up when I perform the song by myself. I am fairly confident that I will miss a chord, miss a string, and quite possibly have my voice shake the entire time.

Despite what may happen, good or bad, I must do it.
I must be brave.
I must learn to fly with my wings.

There will come a time when you will also get pushed off the edge.
Instead of cowering in the corner, sometimes peeking over the edge, embrace the fall.
Say, “Yes,” to the open air, and the unknown outcome.

If you don’t, you will never know how amazing you are.

If you don’t, you will never become the person you were created to be.
If you don’t, you may miss out on your future.

If you don’t, you will never know how it feels to fly.