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                   Success and Failure

10/29/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Success                                                                             An epigram a day

Success is no less chance than effort,                                 Work energizes, indolence lethargizes.
It is an opinion and not an absolute,
A moment and not an eternity,                                              Tenacity is sagacity.                                    
Not salvation, only a touch of grace,
Something to be savored, not devoured,                                When talent is lacking, persistence
Something of which to be silently thankful.                              obliges.

                                                                                          It is the step beyond expectation and
Talent and Genius                                                                 obligation that spells success. 

Talent is honed,                                                                  Whatever you do will reflect you.
Genius is born
Talent makes life                                                                                                           -JM
Possible and bearable,
Genius adds
An awesome glow!


Failure

Failure comes not from without,
It ever comes from deep within!
Circumstances can be devastating,
But only if permitted to be so!
Fate resides within and not without,
That's what it's all about!

-JM
                                                          The Three Spiders

Once there were three spiders who lived in the same garden. One day the first spider spun her usual web, then sat waiting for a fly to become entrapped. After sitting for awhile, the spider grew bored. "I am not happy just sitting," she decided. "I must find something to do." She thought awhile then she began to work on her web. "My web is fine just as it is," she thought, "but everything can be improved." She spun her thread and added a line here and there, until she had a design that pleased her: long straight sticky lines for her to traverse, intersected by perfect smaller arcs. "I like it," she decided and she sat to rest. Just then a fly flew into the web, so the spider scurried down one of the main lines to wrap it up.
At the other end of the garden lived another spider, who had also spun a web that morning. When she finished, she sat waiting for a fly. She had to wait and wait, but she was content to just sit until a fly came for her to wrap up. 
In the middle of the garden, behind a rose bush, the third spider quickly spun a sloppy web. It began as a circle then became an oval with a few uneven lines crossing it. It was not a pretty web, "but it will catch a fly as well as any other web," she said to herself. And indeed, eventually she caught a fly, albeit a rather scrawny one. 
Later in the day, the spiders visited each other, as they were wont to do when their work was done. On this day, they met at the first spider's web. She was proud of her web but said nothing. "What a fine web," the second spider said. "But why do you go to so much trouble? I catch as many flies as you and I have time to rest and play."
"But I like to work," the first spider answered. "Work is play for me." 
The other two spiders looked at each other and smiled. What a crazy thing to say.
"That is way too much work for me," the third spider said. "I may not catch as many flies as you, but I catch what I need, and I too, have time to rest and play."
That evening, a big wind came up. It blew against the spiders' webs and soon tore them to shreds. The first spider's web held against the wind longer than the other webs, but finally it too, succumbed to the gusts. The first spider huddled inside the eave above her web and waited for morning. She was not concerned. This was the life of a spider. 
The next morning dawned clear and calm. The three spiders emerged from their shelters to check their webs. All three webs were shredded beyond repair. The first spider set to work. She had to bite away the bits of her old web before she could begin a new one. While she was working, the second spider came by.
"It is a pity," that spider said. "You went to so much work and now your web is gone, just as is mine. All that work for nothing."
"Oh no," the first spider answered. "I enjoyed making that web. Besides, now I can try something new. I think I will try to make colors this time. Wouldn't it be beautiful to have a web of many colors?"
Just then, the third spider crawled in. She looked bedraggled and sad. 
"Oh, woe is me!" she cried. "My web is gone. What shall I do?"
"Our webs are gone too," said the second spider. "But we can rebuild them."
"But then it will just be blown away again," the other answered. "And I am so tired from the storm. Couldn't I just move in with one of you?"
"No," they both answered promptly. "We are spiders. It is our way to live alone on our webs. You must go back and rebuild your own web."
The first spider began work on her new web, trying to create colors. She didn't know if she could do it, but it would be fun and challenging to try. The second spider went to rebuild her web, just the same as always. She would have time to rest when her web was done. And the third spider crawled back to her rose bush to sit and cry. Finally she began to rebuild her web, taking many rests. She had no fly to eat that day. 
The next day, the gardener came by. In the rose bush she saw a bedraggled spider sitting huddled next to a poorly designed web. In the web was one little fly. In the vegetable garden, she found a spider web with several trapped insects and a spider feeding on one. And near the house, under the roof overhang, she saw a beautifully designed web, with arcs that glistened in the sun and reflected the light to make little rainbows. "How beautiful," the gardener said to herself. "Thank you, little spider."
Under the roof, the first spider smiled to herself. Her hard work had paid off in so many ways. 

​                                                                                                                      -MW
1 Comment
Patricia
11/2/2015 04:56:00 pm

Did they notify you of my comment?

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