Ducks Quack Eagles Soar
I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. 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 back passenger door for me.
He handed me a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wasu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu’s Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’
I said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’
Wasu smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.’
Almost stuttering, I said, ‘I’ll take a Lassi.’
Handing me my drink, Wasu said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times of India, ET and India Today.’
As they were pulling away, Wasu handed me 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, Wasu told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.
Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he’d be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.
‘Tell me, Wasu,’ I was amazed and asked him, ‘have you always served customers like this?’
Wasu 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 about power of choice one day.’
‘Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.’
‘If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!’
‘Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’
‘That hit me right,’ said Wasu.
‘It is 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 customers were 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,’ I said.
‘It sure has,’ Wasu replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.’
Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
A great Thought..
“You don’t die if you fall in water, you die only if you don’t swim.
That’s the real meaning of life.
- 10th Apple Effect
- A blank question paper
- A King’s Painting
- Angel for someone
- As we think so we become
- Beautiful Interpretation
- Blind Horse
- Brave little tortoise Story
- Broken Vase
- Catching the Big Fish
- Choose your battles wisely
- Confidence
- Cow and Pig
- Do not judge a book by its cover
- Ducks Quack Eagles Soar !
- Effect of words
- Effort in Life
- Enjoy every moment
- Experience can make one wise
- Face what you must Face
- Fly High but Stay Connected
- Forget Criticism , Judge yourself , You are the best Judge
- God’s Coffee
- Half Hearted Effort
- Happiness comes from within
- Happy Story
- ice cream allergy
- Just Never give up !
- Let us be Happy
- Love, Unity, Care,Satisfaction is richer than any comfort money gives
- Lucky or Unlucky ?
- Need vs Greed
- Never Give Up !!
- One Plus One Plus One is equal to Four
- OPTIMISM Story
- Overcoming Difficulties
- Password can change your Life
- Picture of peace
- Positive Effect of Negatives
- Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee Beans
- Recharge Yourself
- Rumours
- Secret of Success
- Secret of true happiness
- Self Confidence is all what you need
- Stay Happy – A rare conversation between Sri Krishna & Arjun
- Stop being a glass. Become a lake
- Story for growth
- Story of Faith
- Sweetness of Sour Oranges
- The anger is within
- The Crying lady
- The Eagle and The Chicken
- The Elephant and the blind Men
- The Elephant belief
- The Great Battle
- The Journey
- The master and the tiger
- The Minister and the Dogs
- The missing Goat
- The Pregnant Dog and Elephant
- The Proud Rose
- The Tiger and the fox
- The Wow Approach
- There is Solution to Every Problem
- Triple Filter Test
- Two traveling angels
- Ubuntu Life – I am because We Are
- Un-complicate , Be Simple , Think Lateral
- Value of Life
- Who is packing your parachute?
- Who is poor, Who is rich?
- You Are In Your Time Zone
- You are special – Don’t ever forget it!
- उसको तो फ़र्क पड़ता है – Hindi Short Story !