We know the simple but powerful story of the Ugly Duckling and the moral of the story. But I think there is more than just the one moral. One of the most magical part of stories is that there is always more to learn from them. We gain all kinds of different value from the stories we read and hear.
To me, stories them selves are like the ugly duckling. In the beginning they seem like just a form of entertainment. Eventually we begin to see and understand the real value that they have, and with some books or stories, we take a while to fully realize and appreciate the potential that is in them.
There are a lot of other kinds of ducklings in our lives. Things that don’t seem like much end up having a lot more value than we originally thought. An example of this story is a story told by Boyd K. Packer about a violin in an auction. The violin was scratched and beat up and no one bid on it, then an old man played it, after a beautiful song, the bid shot up.
So many things begin looking like there isn’t much potential, but learn to understand that you can’t see potential, and value is always greater than what you can first assess. A duckling in your life may be a person, an idea, or even yourself. Perhaps there’s a habit that you know you should be doing, but it doesn’t seem appealing at all. Exercising and flossing come to my mind right away.
I think it’d be a lot more satisfying to discover the swan by valuing the duckling, than realizing you ignored the potential that became greater than yourself. Value the little ducklings and discover the potential elevating you. I think some of the ducklings in my life are my goals that I put off.
So, here’s the challenge, put faith in a duckling in your life and see how it becomes a swan for you. Mine will be writing. I’m looking forward to the change it’ll make in me, and I’d love to hear about the changes you see in yourself.
