SHAKE THEM OFF AND TAKE A
STEP UP
A couple of years ago my
wife forced me to attend the high school graduation of our younger daughter, as
she scolded me that she had been the only one doing this favor to our children,
and it was the time for me to do my share of showing that I could be a
supportive parent.
So off I went.
I was getting bored with
the English and Chinese languages being spoken. I was waiting for some special
guest as commencement speaker, but there was none. No politician, no high
profile personality, no wealthy business guru.
I realized that the petite
and brilliant Principal Miss Uy was all the students had. There were no lavish
introductions.
Without much ceremony she
spoke to the graduates and narrated the following story:
“One day a farmer's donkey
fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried
to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, that the well
needed to be covered anyway and that it just wasn't worth retrieving the
donkey. So he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all
grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey
realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement,
he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later,
the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With
every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued
to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the
well and trotted off!”
With that story the school
Principal, said, “My dear students, when you leave school and be on your own
out there, life isn't going to be easy. Life is going to shovel dirt on you,
all kinds of dirt. In order to succeed, don’t yield and accept all the dirt,
shake them off and take a step up.”
I rose to my feet and gave
a strong applause.
Image from sparkpeople.com
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