Many years ago, fishing for codfish in the Northeast had become a lucrative commercial business. The fishing industry recognized that a great market for codfish existed all over America, but they had a major problem in the distribution. At first, they simply froze the fish as they did all their other products, and shipped it out across the country. But for some reason, after the codfish was frozen, it lost its taste. So the owners decided to ship the fish in huge tanks filled with fresh seawater. They thought for sure that would solve the problem and keep the fish fresh. But to their dismay, this process only make matters worse. Because the fish were inactive in the tank, they became soft and mushy, and once again they lost their taste.
One day, somebody decided to put some catfish in the tank with the codfish. Catfish are a natural enemy of codfish, so as the tank traveled across the country, the codfish had to stay alert and active, and be on the lookout for the catfish. Amazingly, when the tank arrived at its destination, the codfish were as fresh and tasty as they were in the Northeast. (This story came from the book Your Best Life Now Journal by Joel Osteen)
This story has important messages for us. First, a challenge to any aspect of what we are doing at Esperanza has the potential to make us stronger as we find evidence to support our decision. Second, we need to be careful that in our desire to help our students be successful that we not take away all challenges they face as those very challenges may have the potential to make them even stronger and better able to make a difference in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment