There it was, that big bird of prey sitting on the railing.
I was about 12, standing on the porch with my grandpa. He kept his eyes on the eagle and whispered: “I know, she can do it!”
She was not an ordinary eagle. We found her, lying on the ground: an eaglet with broken wings. We took her home, gave her food and water and kept her warm. We even talked to her. Later, she was sitting at the porch railing every morning when we left the house to my grandfather's paint store.
My grandfather built his business after WW2. He started from nothing, carting his first stock by foot from miles away using a wheelbarrow. He spent each day at the store, cared for it, often called it “his baby”. Well, he even talked to it sometimes.
He knew that all life forms need food, want to grow, multiply, adapt, stay in balance with their environment, and evolve. Yet, he has learned in the war, that they have just one essential purpose: survival.
Over time, I have understood what my grandfather instinctively knew: businesses and living organisms are surprisingly similar. And sometimes even your business needs help to have its wings healed: so that it can fly again.
Just like our eagle did it in that morning.