Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40 (NIV) 30-31)
By Admin
I think, it is time to publicly answer the most common question that most of you are asking me in private. I have received more than twenty-five personal e-mails and eighteen of which asked me why I picked out Eaglewingss as a domain name for my website instead of something else related to Ethiopia or Ethiopians. Your question is relevant and logical but I have my own reason for choosing Eagle.
Since my childhood, the fascinating characteristics of this huge bird that I read on scientific books and Bible have inspired me. I am not going to discuss the bird’s scientific nature cell by cell as it is irrelevant for this particular article. However, I shall spell some of Eagle’s distinictive nature which could be an inspiring behaviour for you and me, as a great leader or commited follower.
Eagle, or as some people call it The Lord of the Air, reveres as a living symbol of power, freedom, and transcendence. Across time and space in human history, Eagle typifies beauty, bravery, courage, honor, pride, determination and grace. The following distinctive traits of the bird which are widely researched and globally verified as real facts make Eagle so important and symbolic to humanity and great leadership quality.
Eagle has fine VISION. Have you ever seen the bird perching on a tree or a high cliff? It is always attentive. Though its body sits still, the head is in a constant motion to observe what is happening below, around and above. Eagle has keen vision and its eyes are specially designed for long distance focus and clarity. All successful leaders who lived or still living today have this great visionary quality: Martin Luther King, M. Gandhi, N. Mandela and all others possessed a vision of freedom, justice and equality ahead of their own contemporaries. Still today, we need to have a vision that leads our community to the common societal goal. With a clear and focused vision come big results.
Eagle is FEARLESS. The other magnetizing character of the bird is that it will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. Eagle will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory. I am definitely sure that most of you have seen at least a video of this bird’s remarkable hunting or fighting strategy to win the battle against huge goats or dangerous cobras. Regardless of the size and power of our enemies, Eagle inspires us to become fearless to confront them face to face.
“No matter what the size of that person or what weapon they maybe holding, you would attack them without thought or regard for yourself. It would not even dawn on you to be afraid because your instinct is to protect that which you love and cherish,” Ian Dabasori.
Eagle is TENACIOUS. When a storm suddenly hits, other birds fly away with fear but not Eagle. Rather, the bird spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of strong storms to fly high while other birds hectically run for cover. This teaches us that when some challenges of life become tough and hit suddenly, we must face it head on to rise to greater heights. In short, we shall not surrender or retreat!
Eagle is HIGH FLYER. According to Dr. Myles Munro, no one can find a bird at 10 000 feet (3048 meters high). By chance, if you find any, it has to be Eagle. Eagle can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, and amazingly it is able to swiftly land on the ground. Dr Myles has also witnessed another fact about this Lord of Air “an eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and and make less noise waiting for opportunties to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.” That is how great leaders or strong people should behave; do not complain like the pigeons do; but just like the eagle does, they are problem solvers and love to take challenges when the storm comes.
Eagle posseses VITALITY. Eagle is full of life and visionary but it finds time to look back at its life and re-power itself. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagle reaches the age of 30, its physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for it to survive.
Ian Dabasori says “what is really interesting is that the eagle never gives up living. Instead the eagle retreats to a mountain top and over a five month period goes through a metamorphosis. It knocks off its own beak by banging it against a rock, plucks out its talons and then feathers. Each stage produces a regrowth of the removed body parts, allowing the eagle to live for another 30 – 40 years.”
This is a good lesson for us as there shall be times in our life that we must sit, look back, and ponder on the stock of life. The good and the bad experiences we have been through must be examined against the current situation to define and design our course of action for the future. It is the quality of great leaders or strong people to “check and balance”of their personal and professional lives and make virile efforts to learn things every day.
Eagle NURTURES its YOUNGER ONES. How eagle nurtures its young ones is really astonishing and many may consider it as ferocious. However, research has shown that no member of the bird family is more gentle and attentive to its young ones than the eagle.
“This is how it happnens. When the mother eagle sees that time has come for it to teach the eaglets to fly, she gathers an eaglet onto her back, and spreading her wings, flies high. Suddenly she swoops out from under the eaglet and allows it to fall. As it falls, it gradually learns what its wings are for until the mother catches it once again. The process is repeated. If the young is slow to learn or cowardly, she returns it to the nest, and begins to tear it apart, until there is nothing left for the eaglet to cling to. Then she nudges him off the cliff” Ian Dabasori.
This is really a true nature of great leaders who strive to make individuals in the group or community exercise their full ability. Such people with big responsibility and authority never stop giving challenges to subordinates but always involve in lecturing, directing, and empowering.
Well … I believe … I have come a little bit far to reason out why I named my domain after this amazing bird. Hope everyone has understood now why I and YOU together as WE called Eaglewingssociety. Hereafter, I need everyone to become BOLD and say: I am EAGLE, to head on my obstacle! As the Eagle face the sun directly, so do we all our challenges bravely!
*Here I shall acknowledge, Ian Dabasori of which explanation I refered above.