Stand out!

OK, I've been reading Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," and I'm almost done! I have two more pages of habit six, then habit seven, then the wrap up chapter and I'm done! I'm a bit proud of myself. I love the feeling you get after finishing a good book. And he is brilliant! It's a good thing there are people in this world who can start writing a good book and then finish it. What would I do without books?!

So anyway, I read something extremely thought provoking (of course almost everything he says is thought provoking) and decided I'd share. Yeah I know, I share a lot of this kind of thing. But who was it that said if you want to know the character of a man ask him what books he reads? OK, here it is-

"...when I become aware of the difference in our perceptions, I say, "Good! You see it differently! Help me see what you see." If two people have the same opinion, one is unnecessary. It's not going to do me any good to communicate with someone else who sees only the old woman also [who sees it the way I see it]. I don't want to talk, to communicate, with someone who agrees with me; I want to communicate with you because you see it differently. I value that difference."

Wow! Isn't he amazing?! An interesting thought-"If two people have the same opinion, one is unnecessary." It really shows the value there is in difference of opinion. And to stretch that a little further, here is a story he added by R.H Reeves.

The Animal School

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a "New World," so they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. TO make it easier to administer, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, better in fact than his instructor, and made excellent grades in flying, but he was very poor in running. Since he was low in running he had to stay after school and also drop swimming to practice running. This was kept up until his web feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit starts at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustrations in flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the from the tree-top down. he also developed charley horses from over-exertion and he got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and had to be disciplined severely. In climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted of using his own way of getting there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well and could also run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to the badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to star a successful private school.

Funny, but it illustrates an important point. We need to remember that it is a GOOD THING to be individual. If we're all the same, then life is boring, pointless almost, and not everybody is needed. But by being ourselves, we can each contribute whatever we have in our own way to make the world better. So be different everybody! Don't be a duck acting like a rabbit or a squirrel trying to be a duck! You don't have to blend in to fit in. We can work together and function perfectly with our differences. We are all wonderfully special in our own way, and we don't all need the same talents. Just do all you can with what all you have.