The makings of an entrepreneur -- By Brenda Edmontson

Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted to learn how to fly but she had no wings. In despair and frustration she knew she would never be able to soar like an eagle, riding high in the sky without wings of her own. So she sat and sat and did nothing. Day by day she became sadder and sadder. Cobwebs and dust motes settled in her hair.

One day the little girl had the bright idea that she would pretend that she already had her wings. So she went out and climbed to the tallest hill she could find. Then she tied long eagle feathers on her arms and braided feathers into her hair. "Now this feels more like it", she said to herself. "Surely I will be able to fly now." And flapping her arms madly she raced down the hill as fast as she could. But halfway down the hill she began to doubt that she really could fly with tied on feathers on her arms and braided feathers in her hair. The further she ran the bigger her doubts became until the unthinkable happened, she tripped and fell over a rock the size of a pebble. Falling and tumbling, the little girl slid and rolled the rest of the way down the hill. Landing in an ungainly heap the little girl sat up and shook off the dust. "Wow!" she said. "If only I hadn't doubted, I could have flown!" "I need to have more speed!" So the little girl gathered up her tattered feathers, tied them on her arms; braided them in her hair, and marched back up the hill.

Her friends laughed at her behind their hands and wagged their heads saying, "she'll never fly, she has no wings!"

But the little girl kept trying and day by day she would trudge up the hill and come racing madly down the hill. And little by little, as her skills grew, she became faster and faster. Unbeknownst to the little girl she was beginning to grow her own feathers under the feathers tied to her arms and braided in her hair.

On some days the little girl felt she would never be able to fly. Nothing was working. Her feathers were old and falling apart. And she had worn a rut in that old hill. Then she would look up in the bright blue sky and see the eagles soaring effortlessly on the breeze and she would try to fly just one more time.

The little girl was becoming stronger and more confident. She had grown in stature. She was now a sleek young woman, confident in her speed, strength and agility. Racing down the hill one day she stretched out her magnificently muscled arms. The old feathers fell away revealing her own gracefully elegant white feathers and with a mighty leap she flew! "Whoopee!", she cried, "I'm flying!" And she flew high into the air, did loops and somersaults. Then she discovered that she was not alone. All the eagles had come to visit. But they weren't eagles at all! They were just like her, wanting to be more, do more, and have more.

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." ~ William Jennings Bryan

THE GREAT QUESTION: What Destiny do you choose to achieve today?