Posted by TerryS (198.133.22.75) on November 14, 2000 at 23:55:58:
> WE CAN GET BIGGER
>
> I've never followed boxing closely, but I chuckle at the attitude
> of a high school boxing coach. Some of the new athletes were,
> let's say, better suited for other activities. One of his boys
> worked furiously for a couple of rounds, but never connected with
> anything that might be construed as a punch. Nevertheless, he
> asked, "What do you think, Coach? Have I done him any damage?"
>
> "No," said a bewildered coach. "But keep on swinging. The draft
> might give him a cold."
>
> Slim as it is, that might be his only chance to win! And we've
> all been there, haven't we? Slim to none are sometimes the best
> odds we can hold out for. And actually, sometimes it is better to
> keep on swinging -- failure comes only after we have given up!
>
> It took 32 years of failures for dedicated climbers to reach the
> top of Mt. Everest, a peak scaled so often now it hardly makes
> the newspaper! At over 29,000 feet of altitude, snow never melts
> atop Mt. Everest. Sometimes winds at the summit reach 200 miles
> per hour.
>
> George Leigh-Mallory is first recorded as attempting the climb in
> 1921. On his third try, in 1924, he disappeared into the mist,
> never to be seen alive again. The mountain had won. But friends
> of Mallory one day gazed upon a large picture of Mt. Everest and
> declared, "Mt. Everest, you defeated us once. You defeated us
> twice. You defeated us three times. But, Mt. Everest, we shall
> some day defeat you because you can't get any bigger -- and we
> can!"
>
> Eight more attempts were made on the mountain resulting in eight
> more failures. But finally, along came Edmund Hillary in 1953
> who, along with his guide, Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit for
> the first time!
>
> Failure comes only after one gives up. If slim to none are the
> odds of winning, they might be worth taking. For we can always
> get bigger -- bigger in ability; bigger in experience; bigger in
> wisdom; bigger in faith.
>
> I like the observation of Josh Billings, who says, "Consider the
> postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to
> one thing 'til it gets there!"