Who am I?Where am I?

16 December 2008

Duck or an Eagle

I received this email from my Mom and thought it was poignant. Personally I like ducks as they are much better tempered than eagles, but metaphorically speaking, I'd rather be an eagle!
Richard the Nomad

Duck Or An Eagle?

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a brightshine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the backpassenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.

'Taken aback, Harvey read the card.It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest andcheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of thecab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink. 'Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke. 'Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him aboutsome of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his ownthoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you alwaysserved customers like this?' Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappointyourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar abovethe crowd.'''That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customerswere unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.

''I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action. 'Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab.
I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about us? A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up...let us do good to all people. Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar
Author Unknown

3 comments:

Luce said...

It's a nice story; I love to hear Dr. Wayne Dyer's tapes. One of the most marking things for me he had said was: "If you'd know who walks next to you, you'd never have to worry again." I just keep re-hearing that part in my mind and it’s so comforting!!!
But I don't like the comparison of animals with people, these books like “Whale Done!” and “Who Ate My Cheese”, and “Fish Tales”, very interesting concepts but I can't help but feel sad that humans have to find examples in animals for a kick forward. I know there are wonderful examples in nature that are absolutely overwhelming, but it's a little diminishing for both animals and humans to be compared, e.g. I'm sure the ducks are not very happy right now!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree with the author. In life we make our own choices. If we complain every time and take no actions then we are like ducks but if we stop complaining like the cabdrive and look at things on the positive side then we can make this world a better place to live.
These political leaders we have seem to be complainig all the time and yet they have the power to change this world. Anyway such is life. If all were ducks, it would be boring lol!

Anonymous said...

Woooooow!!!!
I have read so many books and write ups on what the power of positive thinking can do to anybody's existentiality, but I have never seen it from this angle before. By this I mean, the power of positive atitude can be effective in the life of anydody. If a simple minded taxi driver can apply it in his enviroment, that means i should just stop applying too much technicalities to all these books i read and simply start appling them. I am sure I would become a better person to my family and society in general and be more at peace with myself just like dat taxi driver in da story seem.
Hmmmm, this is a good read for this new year for me.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL