Flying The Coop

To “fly the coop,” as defined by the Free Dictionary, means, “to leave somewhere, especially to leave your home for the first time in order to live away from family.”  

As it turns out, life requires us to fly the coop more than once in a lifetime. The call to fly the coop can come from an external or an internal force. Often, we’re not even thinking about leaving our “home,” but someone else has asked us to leave. This is distinctly different from having an internal desire to make a change and move away. Either way, leaving can be hard. 

Much of the difficulty in leaving is how we interpret the call to leave.  What are the feelings being generated by this situation? Does it cause confusion, anger or self-doubt? Do we assume the victim role, or do we become proactive and empowered? 

It’s Normal To Have A Variety of Emotions

Understanding is the first step to moving on, and it’s normal to have a variety of emotions, some of them even conflicting.  The ability to acknowledge these feelings is a positive way to put the situation in perspective. Perhaps a part of us does feel rejected, but we are not rejection. Making this distinction helps us to see the situation for what it is––time to move on. 

We then have a choice. We can choose to be a victim and resist the call for growth, or we can embrace the invitation and see what’s possible.  Choosing to step into the unknown is an opportunity for us to learn something about ourselves that we didn’t know before, or to have a fresh insight about ourselves that we had forgotten. 

When we land in a new coop of our own making, we can relish the opportunity for a full expression of ourselves.  We get to create exactly the coop that we want and the one best suited for us. Most importantly, we have the sense of accomplishment of doing it ourselves. No one can take this away from us. 

In reality, flying the coop can be a fun and positive experience. It’s all in how we want to interpret the invitation to fly.