STORYTIME: THE PENGUINS AND PIGEON.

                    A penguin and a pigeon were once walking together, searching for food. They had traveled for miles and were so tired when the two of them saw some others penguins also searching for food. Then the two friends joined the penguins. As they all went together they reached a very cold ocean and the other penguins jumped into the ocean and swam through. Then the two friends were left behind.

            “Sorry pigeon, I think I’ll join them,” the penguin said pointing to the others penguins in the ocean. 

           “But am hungry too, I also want to swim.” The pigeon muttered

           “Well, you pigeons don’t swim, do you? All you do is fly, fly and fly; and you know it’s not a matter of what you want to do, it’s a matter of what you should do -or can do rather. So find a waaaaaay, off I goooooooo”  

          The penguin shouted happily and jumped into the ocean. The pigeon was jealous. How come he couldn’t swim? Out of envy and in a bid to show them that he also could swim, he jumped into the ocean and as expected, he drowned: food for fishes. When all the penguins had swum across the ocean, the friend of the pigeon turned back and looked up, searching the sky for his pigeon-friend.                    

              “What are you searching up there for?” A penguin asked. “My friend. He couldn’t swim so I expected him to fly over the ocean. It would have been faster.” Later in the day, the penguin saw the carcass of his friend on the shore: he wept bitterly.

          MORAL: What killed the pigeon? Ignorance, envy, jealously, name it! Now let’s relate this story to ourselves. We shouldn’t do something because other people are doing it. Don’t start a business or a project because those in it are succeeding. NO! Look into yourself. There are unique potentials in you: utilize! The fact that other people are doing great in a particular profession does not mean you are going to make it there. 

          The pigeon could have flown across the river and that was what his friend expected him to do, but he didn’t. Let us learn from this story. You are unique and special. Don’t follow the multitude blindly, be wise. Remember: there are many paths that leads to success, and the crowded path isn’t always the right path. Check yourself, bring out the unique potentials and utilize.

YES YOU CAN!

               There was once a ten year old boy who was learning how to ride a bicycle. His father had bought him one and he practised riding on it every evening after he came back from school. After many tries and still the poor boy was unable to balance himself on the bicycle and had to be helped by his father when he was about falling, he got discouraged.

            “Dad, I can’t do it.” He murmured one evening after almost falling off the fourth time.

            “Come on don’t say that.”

            “But that’s the truth, I can’t. Uncle Bill told me I’ll never be able to ride a bicycle”

            “That’s a big lie Uncle Bill told you. You can ride a bicycle and you’ll ride one. So, one more try.” His father said, helping him to climb the bicycle again.

           And then the boy tried the fifth time and surprisingly, he balanced himself on the bicycle and rode a long distance. His father smiled as he saw him riding down the lane and went back into the house. When the little boy returned home later in the evening, he met his Dad at home and he shouted “Dad I did it!”

           “Yes you did it because you could do it- and you still can. Don’t let anybody, not even Uncle Bill tell you that you can’t, OK?”

          The boy nodded and from then on, his slogan became “YES! I CAN”. He made a sticker of these words and decorated his bicycle with it.

MORAL: Well let’s see what we can learn from the ten year old boy’s story. Many things but the most important thing is this: always believe in yourself. Never let anyone convince you that you can’t do something. Always say to yourself “Yes I can” and before you know it, you will see that you truly can. You can also make a sticker like the little boy in our story with the words: YES I CAN!