| Most of us are so afraid of falling that we avoid the | | | | classed as having learning difficulties which he rose |
| edge of every situation and we hug the middle. This | | | | above to become one of the greatest inventor of his |
| fear does not just apply to extreme sports it applies to | | | | era, he took the plunge and jumped off his edge and |
| every aspect of our life. We spend most our lives in | | | | created his greatest invention. He had set back after |
| our comfort zone going through life avoiding risks of | | | | set back blowing up his lab more than once he jumped |
| any kind. At the end of our lives we have made no | | | | off his edge to create his greatest invention which we |
| mark on our world and we are in most parts | | | | use every day. This very building we are in tonight is |
| forgettable. | | | | due to someone leaping forward and soaring on the |
| The fact you are here today means you have | | | | wings of what they could accomplish and did not |
| decided to take the steps to walk up to edge and look | | | | focus on what they could not do. |
| out at the other side; you might not be ready to jump | | | | Some of you may say I've leaped before and all I got |
| off but you should not step back to the middle to your | | | | for my troubles was a face full of sidewalk, I agree |
| comfort zone. To summarize this is about taking risks | | | | sometimes we take on something and crash and burn |
| in your life and moving out of the comfort zone to | | | | and this by normal convention is classed as failure that |
| achieve your goals in life. | | | | is where I disagree going back to Thomas Edison he |
| A few weeks ago I was at a motivational event and | | | | said "Just because something doesn't do what you |
| one of the keynote speakers recited a poem about | | | | planned it to do in the first place doesn't mean it's |
| how eagles are taught to fly, the mother eagle takes | | | | useless...". Failure is when you stop in your tracks |
| each one to the edge of the nest and pushing the little | | | | because you had an outcome that you did not like. For |
| eaglets out and keenly watching the chick struggle | | | | some of us it's getting a no Colonel Sanders got 1009 |
| with the up winds and currents and just before the | | | | No's before he had his first yes to the KFC idea, for |
| chick hit the ground she will swoop down to rescue | | | | some of us we spend so much time worrying about |
| her the little eaglet being a child, the eaglet was | | | | the consequences of our actions and go into analysis |
| shocked and horrified that its mother will be so cruel. | | | | paralysis and believe that we have to be perfect. |
| The mother eagle repeated this action everyday for a | | | | This was my story as a kid I had a rule that if I did |
| week whilst reducing the comforts of the nest. Tearing | | | | something once and was not any good at it I would |
| out bits of the nest and throwing out of the nest which | | | | not do it again and it was that simple so I missed out |
| allowed the cold and the rain in, even reducing the | | | | on doing so much because I said I would not be good |
| amount of times she will feed the chicks. To the | | | | at it straight off the bat so I would not even try. |
| extent that she was not even providing the chicks with | | | | So many great people have said you regret all the |
| the comfort of being under their mother which was the | | | | shots you don't take rather than the shots you do take |
| center of their world | | | | and miss. I've heard all sorts of lines and excuses and |
| One day she led each eaglet to the edge as she had | | | | you do know that the definition of an excuse is a well |
| been doing and an amazing thing happened all chicks | | | | planned lie. I'm too young. Too old, not educated |
| leapt from the nest, mother eagle was gob smacked | | | | enough, in some cases over educated, not enough |
| instead of the chicks falling as they had been doing | | | | money in the bank, to do what I really want to do |
| they were flying and soaring following the currents and | | | | Michael Jordan said Obstacles don't have to stop you. |
| up winds "If any of you have ever seen an Eagle fly it | | | | If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. |
| looks like its gliding in the air so it's a majestic site to | | | | Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around |
| behold" | | | | it. |
| We are these chicks either we don't know or we | | | | What are you going to do today that will take you one |
| have forgotten that we are born to fly like eagles and | | | | step out of your comfort zone? There is no right or |
| some of us are content and happy to sit in our nest in | | | | wrong thing. It just has to be one thing that resonates |
| our comfort zone like mother eagle sitting on her | | | | with you, that makes you want to step up to that |
| chicks. Nothing great was accomplished without taking | | | | edge look down and yell Geronimo as you leap into |
| risks first, take Thomas Edison the man who invented | | | | your personal greatness. |
| the light bulb, Thomas was what in today's terms | | | | |