“The Animal Story”

I would like to share with you a reprint of a wonderful parable that most of us have likely read at some point in our lives. The further I go down the trail of life, the more impressed I become with its simple beauty, and I’d like to share / reshare it with you. I believe it deserves more introspection than its brevity and rerun status might suggest. I do hope you’ll read it, re-read it, print it, live it, and pass it along. If doing so helps one parent who’s watching his/her child struggle in finding his / her way, the time invested in making it just right was well worth it. Throughout 30+ years of working with young people in the area of physical education, I’ve had countless opportunities to work those who have been encouraged to be true to their authentic selves. Fortunately, the opportunities to work with those who have been encouraged to be someone they’re not have been much fewer.

We’re all well aware that there are parents who live vicariously through their children – especially in sport -, trying to use their children as pawns to fulfill self-serving dreams – sometimes innocently, other times more calculated. I hope that most of us are the parents who nurture our children’s development by exposing them to a wide variety of exploration opportunities, letting the child eventually land on what his or her nature begs. Needless to say, I suspect the children in the latter category are happier both on daily and lifelong bases.

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 had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, he was better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed 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 started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. He also developed a charley horse from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and D in running.

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

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceeding 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 a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.*

Take a moment to look a few years down the road.

When you envision your child as an adult, do you see someone who is authentically happy in their own skin? Do you see someone whose strengths are stronger because of the boundaries, guidelines, guidance, support, encouragement and love you provided? Or do you see a weakened someone who lives with regret and longing for what could have been, along with a parent who secretly has regrets as well?

I’d like to conclude with some memorable words from Dr. Seuss: “Today you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” Take these words to heart for your own unique self, and share them in celebration with your own unique child. I hope you’re both the happier for it.

*Source: https://www.janebluestein.com/handouts/animal.html Note: This story was written when George Reavis was the Assistant Superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools back in the 1940s! This content is in the public domain and free to copy, duplicate, and distribute. If you would prefer a full-color, illustrated book, one is currently available from Crystal Springs Books at 1-800-321-0401 or 603-924-9621 (fax 603-924-6688).