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| Lesson of the Sticky Burr |
Published on 13-10-2004
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By Darryl Graham
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It was 1980 and our family had just moved to Fort Worth, Texas from Manassas, Virginia. Nobody was thrilled about the move, however my father was determined to make the best of the situation.
Going from Virginia to Texas was a very traumatic experience by itself. I had lived in Manassas all my life and although I had traveled extensively, I could always count on returning home to my Virginia.
I was just 19 when we moved to Texas. There was much I did not like about Texas when we first moved, but one of the biggest hates were the sticky burrs.
Sticky burrs live in the grass and make it all but impossible to walk barefoot in any field, lawn, or park. Our little dog, Corky was not thrilled about these evil burrs as she was constantly tormented by their little thorns as she attempted to walk in our yard.
The house we bought in Texas was a nice house with a rather large yard, actually by today's standards, it was huge. Measuring over 300 feet long and nearly 100 feet wide in some places. Total area was just under half an acre. This is only a rough estimate, but my guess is there were probably a billion sticky burrs in this yard. Give or take two or three.
We all hated the sticky burrs, but at that time in my life I did not feel there was anything that could be done about them except to live with them. My father had other ideas. He was going to pick every single sticky burr from the entire yard. A billion sticky burrs, this ought to be good.
After the move and we all got settled, I took a part-time job and enrolled in junior college. My father as he had always done worked full time for American Airlines. At this time in my life, I was not very happy with my father. He had always been a great father, however when one is 19, and knows everything, authority figures like my father just got in the way.
I never once bought into his theory that he could rid the yard of all the sticky burrs, so I never helped him pick them. I remember coming home and seeing my father in the yard with his little bucket and his digging tool. He never forced the issue with me about helping him, and I never felt bad for not offering my help.
I donft think there was a single day over the course of 3-4 months that my father was not in the yard for at least a few minutes, digging out sticky burrs. He kept at it and never complained. He knew he could beat the sticky burrs, if he just did a little bit each day. I knew he was wasting his time.
My father began digging for sticky burrs in October of 1980, and by February 1981, there was not a sticky burr anywhere in our yard. We could walk barefoot in the yard, our dog, could walk without getting hurt, and my father had won the battle and the war on the sticky burr.
My fathers accomplishment really did not mean a lot to me until years later, after I learned that I did not know everything and the world was not as forgiving and easy as I thought. I have fought many battles over the years, some I have won, some I have lost, but I have never forgotten the lesson of the sticky burr.
I refuse to give up on anything I do, and I refuse to allow anyone around me to bring me down to the level of that 19 year-old kid in Fort Worth, Texas in 1980. We can all accomplish anything if we just keep at it. Donft give up, do a little at a time. The sticky burrs had never met my father, and his perseverance and belief that he could beat them allowed him to win.
Perhaps your battle is somewhat different than fighting sticky burrs, perhaps your battle involves your health or the health of a loved one. The concept is the same, every journey begins with a first step. Take the first step and then the second and the third, and if you need to rest before the fourth that is okay. Just keep going, in whatever you do, just keep going. My father beat a billion sticky burrs, all by himself.
He never quit, he never complained, he just kept at it. He won!
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Comments or questions can be directed to:
Darryl Graham
1-888-541-5006 or 703-366-3131
mailto:dgraham@isoregister.com or visit:
ISORegister.com
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