Yesterday was #WrightBrothersDay and although I am a day late in celebrating it, I thought this message was significant enough to share it with you anyway. Let me take you on a quick musical journey to one of my very favorite songs, that just so happens to be about Orville & Wilbur Wright, it’s called Wings by 4 Him.
I love the way the music starts and I recommend you click the link above and check out the lyrics here so you 
can feel the music while you read the words. For me, my feet start tapping and my head starts swinging which immediately lifts my spirits…
Just two brothers with visions of flight
They were certain to grace, the heavens that awaited
Orville and Wilbur had figured it right…
If you know much about the Wright Brothers, you know that even though they took their first flight on December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which is why December 17th each year is dedicated as #WrightBrothersDay to signify the amazing contribution they had to our way of life and forms of transportation. No one in the U.S. took them seriously back then, and it wasn’t until the French took interest in what they were doing that people in the United States actually started to take notice. Think about how you would feel, if after all the time, energy, blood, sweat and tears involved in a project of this magnitude, instead of support and encouragement, you were faced with the mocking and scoffing of your community and peers.
In order to stay strong in your convictions, you have to truly Believe them, so it’s important to note that their journey didn’t start here, the Wright Brothers dreamed of flight when they were both very young. In a Biography article, Orville’s first grade teacher said he would often tinker with small pieces of wood and once he told her that he and his brother were going to “make them fly someday.” Imagine what she must have thought as she probably held back a snicker, thinking how cute it was that he thought he could do something so… impossible.
This is evidence of how incredibly important the opinions of Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and other influential figures are to children. #WrightBrothersDay is a reminder to us that we MUST help keep children’s Dreams alive if we are to invite them to inspire us and to change the world. We don’t have to know how to do something to achieve it, we have to want to know how to do it, and be willing to figure it out.
Not knowing exactly how to fly, Orville and Wilbur Wright spent hours watching birds, learning 
how they soared, dipped and flew. It was even said that the locals thought they were both crazy. In other words, no one believed in their Dreams… except them. I know what that is like, and so do thousands upon thousands of people all over the world. It takes strength to refuse the negativity others want to saddle you with. Sometimes even loving friends and relatives expect us to “fail.” Some of them are trying to prevent it with their hazardous warnings, while others secretly can’t wait to say “I told you so.” It is our job to Step Up, Stand Out and ignore their empty expectations so we can reach the heights we long for. Only then, will our Naysayers, come around… (sometimes pretending they believed in us all along!)
Far beyond anyone’s expectations
They lifted into the skies of blue
As they all watched in anticipation
The crowd must have longed for
Their own rendezvous
I love this story because we know how it ends, after all, we are celebrating #WrightBrothersDay. We know that Orville and Wilbur Wright changed the course of history by believing in themselves and their lofty Dreams. There were days when they must have felt discouraged and disheartened and I am willing to guess they surely experienced days when they wanted to give up as the Bullies of Worry, Doubt or FEAR kept whispering in their ears that they were a joke and would never succeed. The two of them had one special advantage, which was that they had each other. Trouble seems smaller when even one person believes in you, which brings me to the Chorus of the Song:
Give me my wings
I’m ready to fly today
Ready to wave my worries goodbye
Give me my wings
I’m ready to ride away
Ready to leave my troubles behind
What’s over my head will soon be under my feet
Give me my wings
We experience trials like the Wright Brothers, that can Nudge us off course. Just like a strong wind can create turbulence for a plane, the difficulties we have in l
ife can sometimes either keep us on the ground or even put us in a tailspin. The most important thing we can do, is to Believe in ourselves and our Dreams, while finding a Tribe of people that recognize our value. True friends aren’t there to mock our setbacks, they are there to document our success and encourage us to keep moving forward, even when the road looks difficult.
If you want to learn more about how to Evict the Bully in Your Head and how to become the best version of yourself, check out our #12Books12Months series, and from now on when people tell you it can’t be done, just remember #WrightBrothersDay, be bold and just say, “Give me my wings… ”
Until next time…