At Port X Logistics we recently had a call with our CEO Brian Kempisty. He spoke to our team about being fearless and having the confidence to go after what they wanted. He reassured the team that he had confidence in them and that he had their backs, and he knew everyone had his. Ironically, I came across this funny little story and I wanted to share it.
This funny little story is about going after what you want in life regardless of those around you who do not have your back. It’s an inspirational story with the message, it seems impossible only until someone who is fearless makes it happen.
Once there were a group of snails, 25 of them who were thinking of putting up a race to reach from one end of the road to the other. For most of them, it was about thrill, excitement, and doing something totally radical, but for a few, it was about “going on to the other side, looking at a very different aspect and part of life, and starting something new.” The birds and a few stray animals that were roaming nearby heard about this and laughed their hearts out. Each one of them said “It’s crazy to even try this out. Why would you even want to do something as crazy and dangerous as this?” One of the snails said: ‘We have heard there is an amazing new life on the other side of the road, and we would like to see it for ourselves and yes, we are snails, so we would like to prove to ourselves that we can do this, go past the frenzy traffic, dodge the dangerous pedestrians and reach to the other side.’ The dog that was listening to all this laughed out loud mockingly and said, “Hey little fella, I have seen the other side and there is nothing, believe me. You are wasting your time.” A cat purred and said, “You will never make it, you will be squished even before you try to get off the footpath, let alone reach to the other side. I am a cat, and I can go anywhere I want to, but I myself have never gone to that side of the road, I can see it from here.” A bird flew right above them and mockingly quoted, “Some lessons are learned only the hard way.” Listening to them, of the 25 snails, 7 dropped out and quit even before trying. Now the remaining 18 fixed up a date and started the race. All these animals and birds came to see the race and also to ensure to have fun mocking these snails. The race began, and slowly, they started moving towards the road from the pavement. The chants of “You will lose, this is all a waste, this can’t be done, you are going to be squished, you are a snail” kept on roaring through the wind by these spectators. Sure enough, slowly one after the other, the snails started to quit, some even had a panic attack and froze right there in the middle of the road. As time passed by, there was just one snail who kept moving ahead. Even then there was a lot of mocking and disbelief and in fact, the chants of “You can’t do it, quit before it’s too late” got louder than ever before but this little snail kept on moving. Finally, to everyone’s astonishment, this little snail reached the other side of the pavement and yes, there was a piece of lettuce, and just a little ahead there was a beautiful park right in front of it. Now filled with shock, all the birds and animals who were mocking, rushed towards this little snail and started praising it. But the little snail paid no heed, took its lettuce, and kept moving ahead toward the park right ahead. Shocked and irritated, these animals yelled out to the other side where the rest of the snails were wearily and in utter disbelief resting, “Hey, why does this snail not answer us?” and one of the other snails yelled back and said, “He is deaf, he can’t hear you!”
There are so many simple life lessons in this inspirational story. But there are two that stand out for me; be fearlessness, don’t let other people doubt your ability to succeed, and it always seems impossible until someone makes it happen.
Dream Big, Don’t Ever Give Up, and Always Believe in the Impossible.
