On a street stands a girl from a big city, with great dreams, huge wings, and a warped sense of what it means to fly. She stands at the bottom of a tall building enthusiastically determined to reach the top and roam through the skies as if there’s a world to discover in a limited time. She reaches the top of the building, with the breeze gently calming the fears of what might happen if she falls off the edge.

Confidently ready to soar, backpack filled and wings outstretched, she begins approaching the edge. Suddenly, yards before her feet are supposed to leave the ground, she abruptly stops. “Where am I going? What if I am not supposed to go there? What if I make a wrong turn along the way and end up someplace I was never supposed to be?” After minutes of what seems like forever, she hesitantly sits down in one of the chairs left over from what seemed like a rooftop party. She refuses to go back down to the street level and is too overwhelmed, confused, and nervous to fly. So, she decides to stay on the roof until she has a well-thought-out plan and route.

Well-intentioned, the girl spent more time in that chair than she originally anticipated and worried if her decisions were going to lead her in the right direction. If you put a bullhorn to her head, you would hear her thoughts resounding like a tape stuck on repeat.

After time had passed and the girl had questioned herself, life, and her journey to the point where even her questions started asking for a rest, she heard a voice say “shut up and fly.” It was the GPS system someone had placed on the back of her right wing.

“In this life, you are supposed to fly,” says the GPS. “And yes, you may make a few wrong turns along the way. But, you know what? There are multiple routes to the same destination. “If you just listen carefully enough, you will hear me say ‘recalculating route.’ Even if you go it alone and get lost, just turn me on and we can start course-correcting. Granted, it may take you longer, but you WILL arrive at your destination. So, that being said, can we go now? I mean my gosh, SHUT UP and FLY! Because you were meant to fly.”

Still shaken from the unexpected voice, her body’s fight-or-flight response still in high gear, she stepped back, ran toward the edge, and took off like a bird that had been caged for far too long.