The Feather

Once there was a young girl who found herself walking down a very long path. The path led her through the woods, through meadows, up hills and down the other sides. Sometimes her journey was fun and beautiful, but other times it was dark and lonely, sometimes even frightening.

This day she paused while on her journey and sat upon a large rock. She gazed behind her at the miles she had traveled. Her emotions threatened to overcome her but instead she held strong. Nothing could defeat her. Images of the paths she had followed, the people she had encountered along the way flooded her mind. Some crossed her path only for a brief moment while others traveled beside her and some even encouraged her or threatened her so inevitably her path was altered. As the memories came crashing in, she unknowingly reached down seeking comfort as her fingers rested upon something soft and fragile. She immediately calmed at the familiarity of the object. It was the feather, her feather. The one that guided her along the paths, the one that comforted her when the path was dark, the one that reassured her that she was, in fact, on the right path. She stroked the soft wisps of the feather, soaking in its beauty and simplicity while knowing it held a deep significance of where she was on her journey. The feather was there and even though she wasn’t quite sure where she was, she knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

As she reflected back on her journey she realized the only consistency was the feather and her ability to make choices. People came and went. Sometimes by their choice and sometimes by hers. As she traveled down her path she would often come to a fork in the road. It was there that she would make her choice. Should she continue on the familiar path or divert and go in a different direction? The choices were often influenced by others, but inevitably they were hers. They were her choices. These were the choices that determined her journey. The choices empowered her but sometimes they weighed her down. What if she chose the wrong path? What if she followed the wrong person? At times this happened and she would realize as she continued on the path, that she was not headed in the right direction. She could feel it, she knew, but she couldn’t turn back. There were no feathers. She knew up ahead there would be another path if she just kept moving forward. She had to stay strong and not allow herself to give up. She had endured much worse.

Some of the paths haunted her. The choices she had made had led her into dark places with people she wished she had never met. But she did. At some point during her journey, she began to realize it was not her choice when bad things happened to her or when people hurt her. It was their choice to hurt her and finally it was her choice to survive, to choose a different path. Her choice was to no longer be a victim but to remember those paths and let the knowledge she gained guide her down the correct path in the future, the one where she would find her feather.
Feeling rejuvenated, she stood up on the rock with her hand clasped tightly around the small feather. She slowly raised her hand and opened it allowing the feather to drift away in the breeze as she quietly whispered a wish. She knew she would see the feather again as it guided her down the paths. Soon she hoped, as she started back on her journey. Soon she would see the feather again reassuring her that she was on the right path.

One step at a time, but always moving forward. A peace had overcome her allowing her to begin to relax and look forward with anticipation. The paths she had previously traveled upon had always lingered in her thoughts, especially the dark ones. She now saw them as mere stepping stones, a necessity of some sort that helped to shape her journey. She would no longer allow them to have a hold on her that would prevent her from choosing the right paths. They would not defeat her, but instead she would embrace them and learn from them. Instead of draining her energy, they would now give her power to move forward. Her experiences good and bad would shape her journey. Learning from her experiences and applying that knowledge as she continued forward on her path would empower her so nothing could defeat her. The girl felt a calmness come over her being, a weight lifted from her shoulders. Her eyes sparkled and her face held a smile which widened as she saw the feather drift past her, encouraging her to continue moving forward…one step at a time.