There once was a young sparrow named Holden who asked his mother, “What can I do when I grow up?”

     His mother replied, “You can do whatever you wish to do; be whatever you wish to be. You can accomplish anything if you try.”

     One day Holden saw a beautiful young doe in the forest. “Mother, I can be anything I want to be as long as I try, right?”

     “Yes, dear, as long as you try.”

     Excited, Holden began practicing his prancing. He tried eating grass. He attempted to make spots appear on his back, but nothing about his sparrow body changed.

     With tears in his eyes, a frustrated Holden questioned his mother, “Mom, will I ever be a doe?”

     Laughing, his mother replied, “No, of course not! Whoever put that idea in your head?”

     “You did! You said I could be anything if I tried.”

     “Oh, yes, but I meant that you can be anything within the limitations of being a sparrow. You will never be a doe—no matter how hard you try.”

     Holden was perched with four of his friends on an oak branch.

     “Do you see my beautiful Maple leaf hat, Holden?” one bird asked.

     “And what do you think of my Cherry leaf one? I flew over fifty miles to find this leaf.”

     “And what about mine?”

     “What do you think of mine?”

     “They’re all beautiful,” Holden replied.

     “Where’s yours?” the first bird inquired.

     “I don’t have one.”

     “Oh,” the other birds mumbled. “We have to go then.”

     All four birds flew off; leaving Holden behind. Holden found himself a beautiful Redwood leaf and made a hat on his way home.

     “What is that thing on your head, Holden Sparrow?” his mother forcefully asked.

     “Oh, it’s my hat, mother.”

     “That is the most useless piece of apparel I’ve ever seen in my life. It causes you to fly slower and gives you a blind spot. Take it off.”

     “But my friends think th-”

     “I don’t care what your friends think! It only matters what you think and do. If those are the kind of people you spend time with, then I want you to stop seeing them!”

     A few days later, Holden’s mother hopped into his room and asked, “Honey, why are you still in bed? Go out and have fun with your friends!”

     “But I thought you told me to stay away from them?”

     “No, no, no, honey! Do not be swayed by the flock, but do not anger the flock either. Don’t burn your bridges now! You must not get on the bad side of a flock with good connections who can help you later in life. If the flock asks you to change a few things about yourself, do. It will all benefit you in the end. Just remember this: always stay honest and true to yourself and you will go far in this world.”

     In line with the rest of his male sparrows, Holden anxiously awaited a female choosing him as a mate. However, none ever did. When he asked a sole female that was just about to fly away why she did not choose him, she replied, “You’re not pretty enough. You would not distract predators away from our eggs.”

     Distraught, Holden flew home and asked his mother, “Am I beautiful?”

     “Well, Holden, someone once said, ‘Beauty is altogether in the eyes of the beholder.’ So whether you’re beautiful or not depends on what you consider to be beautiful.”

     Holden later found himself staring down at his reflection in a pond. “Alright,” he thought to himself, “I think what I see is very beautiful indeed.”

     The next mating season, Holden stood up high with his breast thrown out—confident, for he knew that he was beautiful. Nevertheless, he was still not chosen. He again saw the same lone female sparrow and asked her why she had not picked him.

     “You are still not beautiful enough,” she replied.

     Holden flew home and confronted his mother. “Mom, I did what you told me to do. I saw myself as beautiful, yet this one girl still does not see me that way.”

     “Well, Holden, ‘Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,’ and thus, that girl just does not see you as beautiful. Don’t fret, my dear, you can not change what she sees.”

     “Mother! I am tired of this! Every time I follow your advice I learn that the complete opposite is true. Your advice contradicts itself! You tell me things and give me hope and then reality arrives and tears my false hopes down! Why do you never share Truth with me? Why do you feel that you must hide actuality from me?”

     “My child, I have hidden nothing from you. It’s simply that you see what you want to see. You only hear what you want to hear. No one actually sees and hears Truth, for no one is capable of separating themselves from themselves in order to see it. I simply presented you with the raw beliefs and tools everyone uses in order to give you the opportunity to shape your own truth.”

     “I don’t believe you! You deceived me! You confused me! I am flying away and never coming back! I will find Truth.”

     Years later, Holden was patching his nest in a far off Oak tree when his young daughter approached him with the question, “Dad, what can I do when I grow up?”

     Holden contemplated telling his young child, “Sweetie, you will only be able to be a sparrow. You will only be able to fly and build nests. You will only hunt worms and raise your children. You will never be any different than any other sparrows.” However, looking into his daughters naïve and hopeful eyes, he realized he could never share the “Truth” he discovered during his long quest. He finally understood that she needed to discover her “Truth” for herself.

     He simply answered, “Honey, you can do whatever you want to do; be whatever you wish to be. You can accomplish anything if you try.”

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