The Hawk

Dr. Robert B. Pankey

rbpankey@txstate.edu

I have a story that I tell my son when I feel that he is having difficulty with life, is depressed or seems to be hung up over change.

 

A young boy and his father went hunting down by the Mississippi River in the southeastern part of Illinois. They hunted quail, rabbits and other animals from a farm where the corn fields ran up against steep bluffs that overlooked the river. These bluffs were beautiful and served as nesting sights for a wide variety of birds. As the boy and his father were hunting quail, they came upon a young red-tailed hawk that had fallen from its nest off the bluff. It couldn't fly yet, and fearing that some fox would make a healthy dinner of it, the father captured the hawk and took it to the farmer who owned the land. The farmer looked it over and said that he would put it in with the rest of his chickens, and as it matured he would release it.

 

The hawk seemed to be all right with this arrangement, so the boy and his father left it there and went on home. The next year they returned to hunt again, and the boy asked the farmer what had happened to that red-tailed hawk that he put into the chicken pen the previous fall. The farmer laughed,and told them that after a period of time, it seemed as though the hawk was taking on the characteristics of a chicken. It would scratch at the ground, strut around the pen with its head down and burrow around for food like chickens would.

When the hawk had matured enough to fly, the farmer grabbed it and walked out to the back of his yard and threw the hawk into the air. The bird circled the barnyard a couple of times, then flew into the chicken pen and proceeded to scratch at the dirt like all the other chickens were doing. Seeing that this releasing the hawk in the back yard wouldn't work, the farmer said he took it out to the edge of the bluffs and released it again. To his surprise, the hawk again returned to the chicken pen and put its head down and began scratching the ground. In a last futile attempt, the farmer decided to grab the hawk and drive it to the top of the bluffs where he could release it high into the air. When he did this, the hawk took flight, flew down toward the farmyard, circled a few times, then darted straight for the sky.

I often think of this story when I feel down or see others afraid to make a change. There are choices you have to make in life that sometimes are filled with uncertainty. Like the choice the hawk had to make when it decided to spread its wings and aim for the sky. It could have flown back to the chicken pen, existing comfortably with the chickens, head down, scratching at the ground for food, but the hawk was too proud of an bird for that kind of life. As it was released from the bluffs, it looked out at the Mississippi River, and all the fall colors of golden brown, red and blue on the oak trees. From that point one can see where the Ohio River runs into the Mississippi and how vast and fertile the farmlands are. When the hawk looked back toward the chicken pen and circled around the farm, there was no other choice to make than to spread its wings and fly away.

 

When we are failing at something, part of failing gracefully is knowing that it's time to pick our heads up, stop kicking the ground, and decide that what lies ahead could be more exciting than the safe and comfortable place that we currently reside. People need to look proudly at their accomplishments and efforts that result from growth, forgetting the negatives and prepare to spread their wings when that new opportunity comes.

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