Teach an Eagle to Fly

This morning a report aired on Good Morning America about teaching an eagle to fly after it had been in captivity for 14 years.

As I watched the report, I was at first startled by the fact that an eagle would have to be taught to fly. The gracefulness and the might of an eagle causes be to just assume that all eagles have flying down. Of course, fourteen years of captivity could certainly put a strain on current flying techniques - even for an eagle.

But then it occurred to me - if an eagle has to be taught how to fly, what about all the things that the rest of us need to be taught. Far too often we believe we have all the understanding and knowledge we need. We believe that we are too advanced to learn from the young, the old, or our peers.

The reality of life is that we can never afford to stop the learning process in our own lives. Certainly there is a flood of new knowledge and information that is produced on a daily basis. There are new situations and circumstances that occur that cause us to realize that the old solutions don't always work and that we must find new ones. Even in the realm of medicine, germs mutate resulting in an immunity to previously used antibiotics and neccessitating the need for the development of stronger and different antibiotics.

No one person has all the answers. That is why those in government must surround themselves with the best of advisors from many different fields. Those advisors have advisors who consult with those working in research and those working in the marketplace. We all need to keep on learning.

Several years ago I read a little adage on a poster that stated "How can soar with eagles when I work with turkeys?" Maybe the answer to that question rests in my response to learning. A turkey stays close to the ground content to not soar the heavens. An eagle can soar high into the heavens but only after it learns to fly. If someone can teach an eagle to fly, I wonder what all I could still learn!

Opinions Abound

The Presidential Election for 2008 is only about a month away. Already we have heard the first presidential debate. Tonight, we will hear the two Vice Presidential candidates in their prime time debate. Will we have a clearer view or understanding of the issues or of the candidates themselves? Who knows? The candidates themselves will choose how much to reveal or how precise and detailed to be in their answers.

Many people are struggling about their personal choice in this year's election. The two Presidential candidates and the two Vice Presidential candidates are four distinct individuals and personalities. Each of the four hold some views in common with all four; some views are held in common with only their running mate; and some views are unique to the individual candidate. Does that help you decide? Maybe or maybe not!

Thrown on top of this election campaign are the specific issues that are happening concurrently with the campaign. The American economy, the world economy, the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorism, and healthcare costs are only a few that appear on our daily news outlets.

I guess my one big concern about this election is really not just about the 2008 candidates. It is about all the candidates and all the elected officials of all the campaigns over the past 20-30 years. My humble opinion is that the issues never seem to change. The promises to fix things go unfilled. The blame is always placed on the other side.

I just want the opportunity and privilege of voting in a local and a national election in which the winners will actually fix the issues that they said they would fix. If that happened, I would gladly vote for those same candidates again.

Of course, I have a long list of projects that I have been promising my wife I would work on or fix for some time now. Maybe I ought to get a thing or two fixed myself this week!

Let Me Introduce Myself

The title implies a self-revealing portrait of who I am and what I do. The title is misleading. This is just my first posting since July 31st. I almost feel like a stranger in my own blog and need to reacquaint myself with the process. With so many things going on in our world right now, I do have some thoughts and will try to express them more frequently.