An eagle once taught a woman how to raise a child.

[MysteRy]

“Are you well, human mother?” asked the eagle.

The woman looked up, startled.
“I am afraid. My baby will soon be born, and doubt fills me. I want to give them the best — a safe, beautiful life… but how will I know if I am raising them right?”

The eagle perched nearby and replied:
“Raising a child is not about surrounding them with comfort. It is the opposite. When my eaglets hatch, I line the nest with down and grass. It is soft, warm, safe. But when the time comes, I strip it bare. I leave only thorns.”

The woman frowned.
“Thorns? That sounds cruel.”

The eagle met her gaze.
“Discomfort stirs them. The thorns awaken hunger — the desire to fly, to find their own place. Comfort teaches nothing.”

The woman hesitated.
“And if they fall?”

“They do fall,” the eagle answered. “I cast them into the wind. They drop. I catch them. I throw them again. Again and again, until they discover their wings. Then I let them go. No more help.”

The woman’s eyes widened.
“But what if they are not ready?”

“They never are — until they try. If I shield them forever, they will never learn. It is not about making them suffer. It is about letting them grow, even when it hurts you.”

The woman placed her hand on her belly, breathed deeply, and smiled.
“Thank you, Mother Eagle. Your wisdom is a gift.”

She walked away, ready to be the mother her child would need: not flawless, but strong. A mother who would teach them to fly.

If you want your child to soar — do not bind them with comfort.
Let them feel the wind.
Let them stumble.
Let them rise.

True love is not sheltering them from life.
It is teaching them how to live it.
Even if it means watching them fall… so they can learn to fly.