If you have ever been in a position of leadership you have definitely given the old "Acorn to a mighty Oak" or "Caterpillar into a Beautiful Butterfly" speech. All of us have been given the equivalent of this pep talk numerous times in our lives. Encouraging and inspiring us to be better. I am reminded of a time I heard this very speech at an educators convention while I was teaching 2nd and 3rd graders in Texas, it was encouraging me to go from fledgling acorn instructor to the mighty oak of a teacher this guy knew I could be. There was a problem with this - I was an awful educator, and I mean terrible in an astronomical way. It came to the place all I wanted to do was look for a reason to spank these children and send them home weeping. That is not good and I realize this, but I hated teaching kids. Don't get me wrong I like children but it would take Jesus Christ in visible, tangible form pleading with me to teach children mathematics and grammar again before I would even consider it.
Point is most acorns end up as squirrel poo, and most caterpillars end up on the bottom of someones K-Swiss. I have several oak trees in my back yard - I hate acorns they mess up my otherwise nicely manicured lawn and are an all around nuisance. I rake them, squash them, and discard them anyway possible. Caterpillars are a blight on our flower beds and back yard gardens cramming their ugly little gobs with all manner of vegetation and ruffage. One out of every 100,000 acorns or caterpillars actually becomes their destiny, the rest are losers.
Truth be told you and I will more than likely never mine all of our unearthed potential. So we are faced with a couple of options, we can a) Decide that when we reach maximum potential we will finally be happy or b) We can be happy right where we are at. I am not asking you to quit reaching for the stars or to aim low, but the problem is we have a nation full of depressed people because they are not the Butterflies they imagined they would be. They turn to alcohol or Prozac or Gambling( you pick the vice) to make themselves feel better and forget their shortcomings.
I say we need to be the best acorns or caterpillars possible - go ahead cram your face full of vegetation and fend off every encroaching squirrel. Do your best where you are, don't rely on thing or success to make you happy and one day just maybe you will become ..... Nah I'm not even going to say it because more than likely you won't. Take heart in who you are and maybe you'll become who you were meant to be. Later. RLR
4 comments:
Hi, Richie. Andy Burnette here. Remember me?
I've been told I'm nuts, so I guess I'm an acorn. And you know what's interesting? Your view on life here is very similar to the view of a lot of Hindu theologians, who say that we would do better to surrender our '10-year-plans' and learn to love our current stations in life. Who knows? Maybe you were Gandhi in a past life?
I think I would be about three Gandhi's if body mass is taken into account. Good to hear from you. RLR
I am but an acorn smashed under the foot of humanity. Tryng to put the pieces back together that I might not only feel like a nut but look like one too.
And Hindu's think cows are sacred, no? There you go...body mass should not be a concern then. Moo...moo...moo! Good post. Signed, "Content in the state I'm in, but always glancing at the toll-both on the bridge to the next one, wonderin' if there are enough pennies in my pocket to pay the fare." Peace...
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