Maybe When We Let Go, Our Goals Come Closer

I’m not really sure how to make sense of this: I keep seeing bald eagles.

And, I’m seeing them at really weird times.

Times when I feel incredibly present—in the moment—with what I’m doing.

And, what I’m doing is certainly connected to future goals. In fact, they’re rather BIG GOALS.

But, lately, I’m not attached to them…

…not forcing them.

Rather, I’m just letting the action be what it is—out of enjoyment—regardless of the outcome.

It’s funny, though—I’m feeling closer to those goals than I’ve ever felt.

It’s almost as if the bald eagle is saying…

Bald eagles have always been pretty mystical to me.

They were the endangered species when I was growing up in the 80s.

I remember seeing my first bald eagle in my early years of living in Minnesota. I was biking along the Mississippi River when I saw a crowd of people looking up into the sky.

I circled back to see what had caught their attention.

Perched on top of a tall tree was a single bald eagle—stoically looking around.

“Wow!”

Over the years, I’d see them here and there, and they’d always fill me with a sense of hope—perhaps a sign that you can claw your way back from anything.

Upon moving back to Minnesota about a month ago, bald eagles have seemed—dare I say—ubiquitous.

I first started seeing them when I was out running along a bike path just outside our place.

Flying in the sky…

…free…

…unobstructed.

And, ironically, on those runs, I was feeling unusually…

…free…

…unobstructed.

Something I hadn’t felt in a few years. Admittedly, I’ve had a pretty tight grip on life—on outcomes.

A couple weekends ago, I was doing a hard bike workout up a 1.5 mile bridge that crosses over the Mississippi River. In the midst of a climbing interval, I watched a bald eagle coast upstream the river…

…free…

…unobstructed.

I’ve hated biking over the last few years. Each time I got on, it felt forced—constrained.

That Saturday, despite the grittiness of the workout, I was feeling particularly…

…free…

…unobstructed.

Things got weird last week.

I was driving with Ezekiel in the morning listening to a song that had an Alan Watts segment laid over the soundtrack:

“Imagine the idea that the moment you were born you were kicked off the edge of a precipice. And, you’re falling. As you fell, a great lump of rock came with you and is traveling along side of you. And you’re clinging to it for dear life. And thinking, ‘gee, I gotta hold onto this.' But it doesn’t do a thing for you. And it’s only making you anxious. And it’s only when you understand that it doesn’t do a thing for you that you let go and relax.”

And there, outside the car window above the Mississippi River, was a bald eagle soaring…

…free…

…unobstructed.

That same day, I was running on a treadmill at the Southdale YMCA. The treadmills are all set up facing these huge windows that provide a perfect view of the outside world.

In the treadmill world, it’s a pretty spectacular view, especially with the fall colors that we’re experiencing in Minnesota right now.

I was zoned into the middle of an interval workout and I looked up in the sky as a bald eagle floated past…

…free…

…unobstructed.

“Really, another one!?!”

You guessed it: I was also feeling…

…free…

…unobstructed.

As I watched it, the bald eagle started circling over and over and over in the sky. As it was circling, I noticed that it was getting higher and higher in the sky.

And then, it was gone.

I’m still not sure I know how to make sense of this, but here’s my attempt:

Being too attached to the outcomes of our goals can be just like the rock that Alan Watts described.

Clinging tightly to the outcomes—trying to control every action—does nothing for us.

There’s no joy in that.

The joy is in the journey.

The joy is in the process.

The joy—the freedom—is in the moments.

And, when we let ourselves enjoy the actions—the moments—for what they are, regardless of where they lead us, maybe we actually get closer and closer to the goal—the outcomes—we’re trying to achieve.

Maybe letting go…

…being free…

…unobstructed to just do…

…allows us to soar like the eagle outside the YMCA and we find ourselves circling higher and higher and higher in life.

I guess we just have to…

…let go to find out!