In a field blanketed in dandelions, two coyotes galloped, pranced, and laughed all day together. As the sun beat down on their brown spotted heads, the wafting aroma of turned up grass and the sound of leaves crunching beneath their paws was the perfect combination for a mid-fall afternoon trance. Tumbling end over end and using the soft brown dirt for cushioning, they came across a large tree resting horizontally on the ground and blocking their path.
“I bet you can’t jump over that”, one coyote challenged the other, “it’s much too large and you’re far too small”.
“Yeah! Sure! I’ll give it a try”, replied the other coyote energetically, “but only if you try with me”.
So together, at the count of three, they raced side by side as fast as they could towards the tree’s massive trunk. Approaching it quickly, they jumped full force into the air with unbreakable confidence, like an eagle skillfully weaving between clouds.
This floating sensation only lasted momentarily as gravity’s opposition brought them quickly back down to earth. With a loud and hard thud, both of the coyotes smacked against the trunk and lay flattened on the ground like a couple of chocolate chip pancakes.
They rose to all fours, dusted each other off, and courageously kept trying. Over and over again the coyotes repeated same process as they tactfully harassed all their might before attempting to leap to the other side. Over and over again they produced the same result: failure.
Fed up and discouraged, one of the coyotes started walking away and mumbled angrily, “this is stupid anyway. I don’t even want to go to the other side. Why did we even try to?”
After a brief moment of silence, it turned back to find the other coyote is nowhere in sight. It went missing. Where did it go?
Suddenly, it triumphantly soared back from the other side of the trunk, grinning happily from his hard earned success and perseverance.
The coyote that gave up was awestruck and asked the other with curious excitement, “How did you manage to do that after we each tried so many times unsuccessfully?”
He calmly responded:
“When you want something bad enough, you’ll keep trying no matter how many times you get knocked on your back. And if you keep trying, you’re bound to succeed eventually.”
Always Looking Up 