Years ago, a poor shepherd and his two young sons made a living by tending sheep for others. One day, while they were herding sheep onto a hillside, a flock of geese flew overhead, their cries echoing as they quickly disappeared into the distance.
The younger son asked, "Where are the geese flying to?" "They are heading to a warm place to settle down and escape the cold winter," the shepherd replied.
The elder son said with eyes full of longing, "If only we could fly like those geese! I would fly even higher than them, straight to heaven, to see if Mother is there."
The younger son added, "It would be wonderful to fly like a goose! Then we wouldn't have to tend sheep anymore; we could fly wherever we wanted."
After a moment of silence, the shepherd said to his sons, "If you wish, you can fly too." The two boys tried, but they didn't take flight. They looked at their father with doubt in their eyes.
The shepherd said, "Let me show you." He tried to fly as well, but failed. He said with conviction, "It is only because I am getting older that I cannot fly. You are still young; as long as you keep working hard, you will surely be able to fly to the places you dream of."
The sons kept their father's words close to their hearts and never stopped striving. As they grew up, they truly did learn to fly—they invented the airplane. They were none other than the Wright brothers.
With his wisdom, the shepherd lit a torch of belief for his sons, guiding them toward the skies of their dreams and helping them turn those dreams into reality.
