The LIttle Train

As a child I loved to read and to have stories read to me.  A very favorite was ‘The Little Engine That Could’, by Watty Piper.  For those who do not know the story, it is about a little train engine that huffed and puffed and practically blew a gasket trying to get up one particular hill until he finally did.  And the entire time he mumbled to himself, ‘I know I can, I know I can’.  Note to parents:  if you are raising a particularly earnest minded child, reading this story to them could be a bad idea.  The moral of the story is that if you try hard enough, you can overcome any obstacle or challenge.  Sounds okay, huh?  What the author fails to point out to earnest little minds is that sometimes the obstacle or challenge is just NOT going to be overcome and that if the little engine had a brain, it would stop and consider its options after trying and failing several times.  We Americans are a particularly earnest society on the whole and many of us follow the example of the little engine that could, right into the ditch.  As the overpaid, smug human resource consultants of today like to point out, change is inevitable.  I agree.  As an adult my favorite book now is ‘Who Moved My Cheese’, by Spencer Johnson.  Why?  Well, even at my senior age, I still need to hear that sometimes trying and trying and trying – has the same lame result and, HEY, you just might want to change your tactics.  Our current economic downturn is a good example of an obstacle that the little engine just won’t overcome.  Even if he chugs and chugs, because the price of fuel has gone sky high, the greenies are lobbying Congress to ban his activities, low-life’s have torn up and removed his rails to pawn for cash, and no one is particularly interested in riding the route he is running – he might consider stopping.  He might consider making some personal changes in order to adapt to current conditions.  Oh, another thing those overpaid, smug consultants like to point out is that sometimes change is difficult to adapt to and requires maximum effort.  THAT is where the little engine and his incredible Power of Will would really shine!  Moral of the story:  don’t stop trying but at least consider changing directions when the hill up ahead is too big to climb and the only thing waiting on the other side is the wrecking yard.