Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul (V)

My company mascot is the bumblebee.
Because of its tiny wings and heavy body,
aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be
able to fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know
that, so it flies anyway.

-Mary Kay Ash

The first time I read this poem, I laughed and dismissed it as just comical. Bees shouldn't be able to fly, not with their fat, round bodies. You would think that bees would plummet to the ground the second they jump off of a flower petal.

Then, of course, I confirmed exactly why I don't often read poetry as my realization that this poem has nothing to do with bumblebees hit me. It was a comical metaphor, though. I fully appreciated Ms. Ash's humor.

To the author's point, just because one is born with limits, or is even declared by others as unworthy, does not mean that hope or courage should be forgotten. This actually reminds me of a movie (I mean educational video) that I saw in Biology called Gataca. It's a sci-fi futuristic movie about a man predetermined to fail in life. Because of his statistically bad genes, no one expected him to succeed at anything in life other than maybe living long enough to work a few years as a garbageman. Lucky for him, his stubbornness made him determined enough to chase his dreams of one day becoming an astronaut.

So, I know this sounds a little cliched, but... no one should feel limited or unworthy based on what others say. The only person who does the limiting is yourself. Like the bee, fly despite aerodynamics. Ignore the pessimism and do what you want.