Never Stop Trying

It always is a wise move to begin a new year on a positive note. It is well to remember that the pot of gold goes to the person who is persistent, who perseveres. That is why early in our school days we were taught that "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

As we matured, we heard another school of thought on the subject. It contended, and still does contend, that "If at first you don't succeed, the hell with it."
Few among us let such a cynical way of looking at life deter us from our chosen path. Despite roadblocks and land mines I have kept trying, always trying. Jackie will attest to this because many times I have heard her say, "Dick is a very trying person."

This sort of determination can at times be a bit discouraging. Take dealing with squirrels, for example. Years of my life have been devoted to trying to outsmart them. I have devised complicated plans, have even taken hammer and nail in hand to construct devices that no squirrel could possibly get around. At times it has become aggravating in the extreme when after great effort a squirrel will stare at me with that look on its face that says, "You poor pathetic creature, is that the best you can do?"

There have, however, been moments of great triumph. There was the day I watched as a squirrel fell out of a tree. It was an old pine tree with numerous dead branches at its lower levels. It was somewhat like watching the ball in a pinball machine bounce off one obstacle after another as he hit each of those dead branches on the way down. When he reached the ground I shouted, "You call yourself a squirrel, yet you fall out of a tree!"

He gave me that haughty look that comes easily to the face of any squirrel, then jumped on the tree trunk and began climbing. He kept trying, and that was the lesson to be learned: never give up, always keep trying.

Remember that squirrel as you embark upon the route ahead in this new year. I do. Almost daily I think of him and all his cousins as I keep trying to find the one sure way to prove my superiority. Never surrender, never stop trying.

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