“No bird flies so high that it does not come down to earth.”
I have always liked that quotation.
Most people read it as a reminder that success is temporary. That no matter how high we rise, life eventually brings us back down.
There is truth in that.
But over the years, I have come to see something else in it.
Fly high.
Dream big.
Achieve what you can.
Use every gift you have been given.
But never forget where the wings came from.
Looking back at my own life, I cannot honestly tell the story as a story of my effort alone.
There were choices I made, certainly.
There was hard work, discipline, persistence, sacrifice, and learning.
But there was also something else.
Someone else.
Moments arrived at exactly the right time.
People appeared when they were needed.
Doors opened that I never knew existed.
Situations unfolded in ways I could never have planned.
Guidance came from places I was not even looking.
The more I reflect on my life, the less I can claim ownership of it.
I can only claim participation.
The authorship belongs elsewhere.
For me, that journey took a decisive turn when I encountered the Shrimad Bhagavatam.
I was spiritual from childhood, but spirituality often remains an idea until life begins to test us.
And life does test us.
There were moments of deep difficulty.
There were moments of great success.
There were periods of uncertainty.
There were periods when everything seemed to fall into place.
Somehow, in the middle of all of it, the Bhagavatam entered my life.
The timing could not have been more perfect.
It was not simply a book.
It became the beginning of a different way of seeing.
A different way of living.
A different way of understanding who I really am.
From that point onward, my relationship with Lord Krishna stopped being philosophical and became deeply personal.
I visited temples I would never otherwise have visited.
I travelled to places I never thought I would go.
People entered my life carrying exactly the message I needed at that moment.
Experiences unfolded that quietly nudged me in directions I could not yet understand.
Looking back, I can see a thread running through everything.
A thread I did not weave.
A thread I only discovered.
And that thread was Him.
There is a verse in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says:
“I am seated in the hearts of all beings.”
The older I become, the more real those words feel.
Not as a belief.
But as an experience.
Success belongs to Him.
Failure belongs to Him.
The journey belongs to Him.
The destination belongs to Him.
The wings belong to Him.
Even the bird belongs to Him.
Humility, then, is not thinking less of ourselves.
Humility is remembering the truth.
The truth that whatever intelligence we possess, whatever opportunities we receive, whatever strengths we develop, whatever achievements we celebrate, are gifts before they are accomplishments.
Nothing is truly ours.
We are trustees, not owners.
That remembrance has become increasingly important to me.
Because success has a subtle danger.
It slowly convinces us that we are the cause.
That we made everything happen.
That life bends because of our effort alone.
And perhaps that is why forgetting God is more dangerous than failure.
Failure usually pushes us towards Him.
Success often tempts us away.
The challenge is not remaining faithful in difficult times.
The challenge is remaining faithful when everything is going well.
When the world applauds.
When goals are achieved.
When recognition arrives.
When life appears comfortable.
That is when remembering becomes most important.
Not because God needs our remembrance.
But because we need it.
It keeps us grounded.
It keeps us grateful.
It keeps us sane.
And it reminds us that while we may fly very high, the sky itself was never ours.
So fly.
Fly as high as you can.
Use every gift.
Pursue every possibility.
Become everything you are capable of becoming.
But never forget.
The wings were never yours.
And neither was the wind.
Everything is through Him, because of Him, for Him, and ultimately, Him.
And that is why, no matter where life takes me, there is one prayer I hope I never stop carrying:
Never forget God. Never ever forget God.