Throughout history, the imagery of having wings has been used in many facets. It has been used as a sign from the Divine Messenger, the concept of wings of ambition, triumph and fall, to the metaphorical concept of inner evolution, intellectual reach, and spiritual liberation.

One of the most common, and often misconstrued, is that which leads people to believe that those who pass on from this world can become angels.
Angels have played a vital role throughout history, and always will, as a distinct creation of God, existing to assist, welcome, and support humanity, God’s other creations, and God Himself.

But that doesn’t mean we as humans will someday become angels or sprout wings simply because of how good we were here on Earth. There are no bells ringing to signal that a human, or an angel, has suddenly earned their wings. Whether we are religious  or simply believe in mythology, it is understood that angels are a creation and they exist as spiritual beings with no choice to have wings or not.
That being said, what about the concept of humans having wings? Having or developing wings isn’t just about physical imagery.

It is a metaphorical concept describing the gifts and talents we are given throughout our lives.

It represents the changes and the freedoms we earn or receive, like free will and our ability to make choices.

It can also be the freedom to enjoy the beautiful things around us, and how those things affect us. Like nature and the goodness that we can choose to see within each other’s heart.

It can also be the choices that we make in our everyday life. The choice to go to work versus going to college. whether to marry, whether to attend church on Sunday or the choice to volunteer or help another person that is struggling in front of us.

The metaphorical wings that we are introduced to throughout our entire existence here offers us the ability to live life or to shrink back.
They give us the choice to go explore or journey someplace that we’ve never been, rather than staying isolated. They give us the ability to learn, to experience and live and love.

These wings, if they are clipped, set us back within our existence in life. It prevents us from seeing, learning, growing and changing.  Clipping is the crutch that happens when we choose to depend on things we fear,  like failure or simply being ourselves.

It also  happens when someone else’s fear decides to clip the wings of another person by introducing negativity and control. Doing this prevents us, or them, from being able to find true happiness.

These wings can easily be clipped when we make the choice to not use them to not live life to its fullest, to choose to not experience life, or rather to just exist within our own selfishness and solace.
Yet we so easily clip our own wings when we let our minds run wild with worry.

As humans, we have a habit of letting our thoughts spiral to the extremes over things that don’t even exist—agonizing over what others think of us, guessing how people feel about us, and inventing scenarios in our heads.
When we let our minds create these imaginary barriers, we paralyze ourselves.
We refuse to allow ourselves to step out and experience anything.
When our wings are clipped by fear and overthinking, it sets us back in our existence.
It prevents us from seeing, learning, and growing, leaving us depending on self-imposed crutches instead of flying.

God has given you so many opportunities to fly through this life—not necessarily fast, but fully—to experience and feel all that life has to offer.
So the next time someone comments on whether you’ll get your wings when you become an angel in heaven, gently set them straight.

Let them know that God gives us wings right now, everyday throughout life, in daily opportunities.
He has given all of us wings so that we can experience the true beauty and depth of living life to its fullest.