Kiwi!

First, a little background information. The Kiwi is a bird indigenous to New Zealand. In fact, it's the national symbol of the country. It is shy and nocturnal. Relative to it's body size, it lays the largest egg of any bird. What makes the Kiwi most unique, however, is it's inability to fly. The Kiwi is a flightless bird.

For those of you too lazy to watch the video above, or those of you too stupid to understand it, I'll give you a little summary. This bird, a Kiwi, nails a series of tress perpendicular to the side of a cliff. When he jumps off, it seems to the bird that he is flying through a forest, not free falling off of the steep cliff. This view is shown when the camera angle shifts so that the trees actually do look like they are standing upright. As the bird is, in reality, falling, he eventually approaches the ground and inevitably dies.

I have gotten multiple reactions from the people who have already seen this video. Some are only interested because the bird is so cute. Some call it tragic, still others depressing. I disagree with these opinions, though. This "tragic" story can be looked at positively, just like anything else. This bird could never fly. However, it worked for countless hours to give itself the feeling of flight. The Kiwi dies a happy bird, because it finally achieved the flight that it had never been allowed. This is a story of great perseverance and hard work to achieve a goal. This Kiwi was highly motivated to gain what was denied to it. This is a lesson that all of us could benefit from learning.