rather early in life. A lesson that all of us would do well to remember.
The birth of a baby giraffe is quite an earth-shaking event. The baby falls
from its mother’s womb, some eight feet above the ground. It shrivels up and
lies still, too weak to move.
The mother giraffe lovingly lowers her neck to smooch the baby giraffe. And
then something incredible happens. She lifts her long leg and kicks the baby
giraffe, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground. As
the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again. And again. Until the
baby giraffe, still trembling and tired, pushes its limbs and for the first
time learns to stand on its feet.
Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother giraffe comes over
and gives it yet another kick. The baby giraffe falls one more time, but now
quickly recovers and stands up. Mama Giraffe is delighted. She knows that her
baby has learnt an important lesson: Never mind how hard you fall, always
remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet.
Why does the mother giraffe do this? She knows that lions and leopards love
giraffe meat. So unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with
the pack â€" it will have no chance of survival. Most of us though are not
quite as lucky as baby giraffes. No one teaches us to stand up every time we
fall. When we fail, when we are down, we just give up. No one kicks us out of
our comfort zone to remind us that to survive and succeed, we need to learn to
get back on our feet.
If you study the lives of successful people though, you will see a recurring
pattern. Were they always successful in all they did? No. Did success come to
them quick and easy? No, no! You will find that the common streak running
through their lives is their ability to stand up every time they fall. The
ability of the baby giraffe!
Have you heard about a young sales executive from Kolkata who dreamt about
becoming an announcer on radio? He auditioned with All India Radio for a job.
The authorities felt that he didn’t have a particularly good voice and he was
rejected. He refused to accept defeat and continued to chase his dream.
He tried for a role in the movies. He got rejected. They thought he was too
tall. He kept trying and got a few lucky breaks. But most of his early films
flopped. He did not give up. He played an angry young man in a movie that
became a super hit. And the failed radio announcer went on to become the
country’s biggest superstar â€" widely admired for his baritone voice! His
name? Amitabh Bachchan.
The road to success is never an easy one. There are several obstacles, and you
are bound to fall sooner or later. You will hit a road block, you will taste
failure. But success lies in being able to get up every time you fall. That’s
a critical life skill. And it’s the habit of all successful people.
Learning to win in life is quite like learning to ride a bicycle. As you start
to ride, you might fall and get bruised. It doesn’t matter. You need to get
back up and continue to ride. Fall one more time? Get back up again. That’s
all it takes. Learn to get back up every time you fall.
And just remember one more thing. Next time you find a friend or a parent
kicking you, don’t get upset with them. Like the mother giraffe, they may
only be trying to teach you one of life’s most important lessons...:) :)
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