Monday, February 23, 2015

Shade Tree Wisdom 2/23/15

          Here is an ad Cadillac ran in the WSJ.  It is part of a speech President Teddy Roosevelt made on being a critic.
“It is not the critic who counts;
The credit belongs
To the man who is
Actually in the arena,
Who strives valiantly;
Who errs, who comes
Short again and again;
Who knows
The great enthusiasms;
Who spends himself in a worthy cause;
Who at the best
Knows in the end
The triumph of
High achievement,
And who at the worst,
If he fails,
At least fails, 
While daring greatly.”

          Those words were spoken years ago and they still ring with truths we do well to pay close attention to.  Take sending an email, for instance.  If the address is not correct in every detail, the mail does not go through.  In short, little things count; they are important, and often vital to success.

          Remember the little poem titled, “For want of a nail”?  It is about a horse that lost a shoe and turned up lame and so the rider missed the fighting and because he was not there, “the battle was lost”.  And why did that horse lose the shoe?  Because the farrier failed to use all the necessary nails to fit it to the hoof properly.


          Yes, often it’s the little things that make a difference.  Did you smile at your waiter, or the person who brought the coffee in the morning, or did you smile when you left for the day or greet your children with a happy word when they came trudging from the bus at night?

          Our lives are often so busy that we forget the little things and we should not.

          Prediction, try it, and life gets better.

GPD 2/23/15

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