Be like an eagle
A story was once told that eagles can live for up to 70 years because they are mentally strong. After every 40 years, every eagle must make a tough decision. Its claws are no longer strong enough to hunt. They become bent and blunt, and its feathers become too thick.
The eagle has two options: It either dies, or goes through a painful change. This painful change is that the eagle must go to the mountain, and hit its beak on the rock for 150 days until it falls out. When the old beak falls out, a new beak grows in its place. With a new beak, the eagle pulls out its claws. When the claws fall out, the new ones grow, and the eagle plucks out its feathers.
The story of the eagle is not only an inspiration. It is an expression of nature’s way of generation, degeneration and regeneration.
To the eagles, and other species, growth and transformation must happen naturally. In the same way, it also happens that if the eagle does not respond to the call of nature, then it has no other option than to face its demise.
As much as we humans may see ourselves as special, and with an entitlement of seeing most of the other species as only resources to devour, are no different. We too must abide by nature’s laws or suffer, if not perish. However, in our ignorance, we have veered away from nature’s ways, and created our own. Therefore, from this tower of babel and delusion, we must continuously suffer.
Observantly, just as an eagle must face the inevitable and painful change after 40 years, so is humankind. A 40-year mark signifies a transition from infancy and childhood into adulthood. When uttered, the expression “life starts at 40” seems to be taken for granted.
For some, it may create an expectation of the occurrence of interesting or exciting external events. This may lead many to get caught off-guard. Instead, it becomes a roller-coaster,and is simply seen as a midlife crisis, and nothing more than that.
As crucial and necessary as this period may be, it is also a make-it-or-break-it period of one’s lifetime. Sometimes, around this time the fortunate ones may have already prepared themselves, and may smoothly and gradually transition with ease.
Unfortunately, for the unfortunate most, the resistance to transition from infancy to adulthood must bear its painful toll. It may turn into a downward spiral trend into addiction and self-destruction. It may become an endless visit to the psychologist, or psychiatrist, and a lucrative business for the chemist. Sometimes physical ailments, insomnia, and the dread of doing anything are nothing but manifestations of physical, mental and spiritual warfare.
The soul is tired of the old and yearning for the new, yet the body wants what it is used to, and the mind is afraid of the unknown.
Sadly, often what happens is that the body and mind, in their ignorance, are resisting the process that may get them to something better, or which for too long has just been a dream and seemed impossible. Although some may eventually gracefully survive the resistance and transition, they may still get stuck between the old and the new.
Some, by the grace of the divine, may get the support and resources that will get them to the other side. However, the unfortunate ones may even get to untimely see their maker. Fortunately for the merchant, this period of transition becomes a lucrative opportunity for the diagnosis and treatment of out-of-thin-air disorders.