Life lessons from a baby giraffe
Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother
BABY giraffes never go to school. But they learn a very
important lesson 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 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!
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. It doesn’t matter
how many times you fall. What matters is your ability to
pick yourself up and stand on your feet once again.
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