TURTLES CAN'T FLY

TURTLES CAN'T FLY

  A determined little turtle once climbed a tree. He somehow made it to
  the first branch. Then he jumped into the air waving his front legs
  and crashed to the ground.

  After a while he slowly climbed the tree again. And again he jumped.
  This time he flapped all four of his limbs, but still plummeted to the
  hard ground.

  The persistent turtle tried again and again with the same results. A
  couple of birds perched on a branch nearby watched his futile efforts.
  One of them turned to her mate and said, "Dear, don't you think it's
  time to tell him he's adopted?"

  There are simply some things we cannot do. Turtles can't fly.

  Comedian Bob Hope once thought of pursuing a career in boxing. Later
  in life he quipped about it: "I ruined my hands in the ring" he said.
  "The referee kept stepping on them."

  Fighting is something he could not do well. But he became a great
  comedian.

  Lots of people have ability and talent. And most people have an idea
  about what they think they can do. So why do some excel but many do
  not?

  The famous American caricaturist Al Hirschfield explained it like
  this: "I believe everybody is creative and everybody is talented," he
  said. "I just don't think that everybody is disciplined. I think
  that's a rare commodity."

  The secret seems to be discipline. Whatever ability we are born with
  is not enough. Even raw talent requires discipline to be nurtured and
  developed. And enough hard work and discipline can turn the most
  meager skill or ability into a great strength.

  A man jumped into a taxi cab in New York and asked the driver, "How do
  I get to Yankee stadium?"

  The cabbie replied, "Practice! Practice! Practice!"

  He's right. And although discipline and practice may never get a
  turtle to actually fly, it will probably get you and me just about
  wherever we want to go.