In a forest, up in a tall tree, lived a family of four birds—Papa Bird, Mama Bird and brothers Big and Little Bird. This year, like every other year before, the entire community of birds in the forest is planning a grand festival to celebrate the youngest birds’ first flight from their nests. Last year, Big Bird participated in the festival. This year, it would be his little brother’s turn. But unlike his older brother, Little Bird was not at all excited for the “jump;” he was scared. The thought of stepping over the edge of the nest and freezing—not remembering how to flap his wings—had always haunted him. The festival was just moments away, but Little Bird couldn’t even bring himself to look outside the nest; he couldn’t even think about flying.
Once the festival began, Little Bird built up just enough confidence to poke his head out of the nest to see what was happening. One by one, he watched all his friends jump from their nests, flap their wings and fly. Each first flight was followed by chirps of celebration. “How will I ever do this?” Little Bird thought. “There’s just no way!”
Finally, it was Little Bird’s turn to jump. But despite his parents and big brother’s words of encouragement, he would not move. “Come on,” they said, “you’ll be fine. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re a bird!” But Little Bird still wouldn’t move; and the minutes slowly past. Then Little Bird heard something—something very loud headed straight at him. He looked up and saw that the powerful and large figure was his wise and worldly Grandfather. Perching at the edge of the nest, he looked with kind eyes at Little Bird and chirped, “A little preflight nervousness? You know,” he added, “the same thing happened to me. But you know what? Something my father told me a long time ago helped me take my first step out of the nest. He said, “If you only do what you know you can do, you will never do very much.”
Little Bird hadn’t thought about the jump quite like this before. He came to realize that he didn’t really want to spend his entire life doing the same old things inside his nest. He wanted to see the world and do many, many new and wonderful things. He knew he had to get out there and jump. With new inspiration, little bird hopped up to the edge of the nest. Putting his fears behind him, he took a deep breath and jumped.