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Are You an Eagle Hiding Your Talents in a Chicken Coop?

Guest post by: Denise Duffield-Thomas

Article Overview: What will you do to unleash that powerful part of yourself who is longing to be free, daring and utterly fearless? Turn around and realise that the door to the coop is open. It always was. You are free to leave your self-imposed limitations and soar.

Are You an Eagle Hiding Your Talents in a Chicken Coop?

A few years ago, I had a session with a psychic who told could see very clearly why I was so blocked.

“You’re an eagle hiding in a chicken coop”.

I was actually a little offended. Was she saying that I thought I was better than everyone else, or that I was some superior independent bird of prey looking down at all the lowly chickens?

No, not at all – she was merely saying that I was withholding my talents in the world by hiding out where nobody could find me.

A few weeks ago, I talked to another intuitive person who told me something similar. She told me eagles represent leadership and big visions and why wasn’t I owning up to that?

I realised that many of my clients have the same problem. Women, especially are hiding their big talent from the world and pretending that they are comfortable being like everyone else.

I’m not saying eagles are great and chickens are bad. It’s just you can’t hide your light by pretending to be something you’re not. Eagles just don’t belong in chicken coops.

One of my mentors Karen Knowler told me that she used to volunteer at personal development events in London, hoping that one day someone in charge would “discover” her talents and put her up on stage. Rather than risk rejection, she just hoped that someone would notice her light and make the decision for her.

Many women fear acknowledging their true power and creativity for worry about what other people might say or think about them. That’s why writing your article seems so tough or putting your first photo up online is an arduous task. It means too much to you, so you pretend your creative endeavours just aren’t good enough. You deny that small voice that knows you are destined for greatness.

Eagles want to fly, see great distances and feel the wind gliding by. There’s thrill and danger in living such an adventurous life.

Of course there are advantages to hiding out. You can be the metaphorical big fish in the little pond and nobody expects too much of you. There is little chance of being criticised. Nobody will tell you that your work sucks or leave a nasty comment on your blog.

So you hide out with the chickens.

In other words:

You’re a born entrepreneur stuck in a cubicle for a job you don’t like

You live in a cold country but you love the sun (or vice versa)

You play small when you really want to shine

You’re in a business when you’re not passionate about the product or the customers

You play the behind the scenes role but you want to be the one on stage

You don’t charge good money for your work so you temp to pay the rent

You wear a suit just to fit in but you want to wear crazy, bright clothes



My gorgeous friend Mazzy started her corporate career working for a conservative bank. She refused to wear a dark suit and instead draped pink feather boas around her computer. Needless to say, she doesn’t work there anymore and today gets paid very handsomely as a creative consultant, so she can be as “kooky” as she wants. She was an eagle in a chicken coop and now she’s free to be herself.

Be exactly who you are – because some people will love it and some people will hate it. Most people will be ambivalent, but at least you’re being yourself.

What would the eagle do? What will you do to unleash that powerful part of yourself who is longing to be free, daring and utterly fearless?

Turn around and realise that the door to the coop is open. It always was. You are free to leave your self-imposed limitations and soar.

Lastly, surround yourself with people who are encouraging you to live an amazing life. “Birds of a feather flock together” as they say, well – when you find your flock they can inspire you to even greater heights.

Are you an eagle looking to break free?

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Article Tags: personal development, success
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