Grandpa’s Advice

Several years ago, an old farmer walked with his grandson out to feed the pigs. This grandson spent a lot of time working with his grandfather and often on  their short walks, the grandfather would teach this boy some life lessons, advice designed to help him navigate his life’s journey. His advice was always simple and filled with wisdom. Sometimes the advice was not very clear but the boy tried to listen and apply it. This particular day the grandfather offered some unusual and somewhat confusing advice. “Son,” he said, “you can’t teach a pig to sing because it wastes your time, and it irritates the Hell out of the pig”.

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This boy thanked his grandfather yet he was confused but he loved his grandfather and believed that this was good advice even though he had no idea what it meant. He always remembered this life lesson from his grandpa and over the years, as he pondered and thought about this philosophical gem, he understood the message and he eventually realized what his grandfather was trying to tell him.

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In his unique and simple way, this concerned grandfather was trying to teach his grandson an important lesson in life. He was pointing out that it didn’t matter how much time and effort a person put into teaching a pig to sing, the pig would never learn and the boy would be wasting his time. This grandfather was teaching his grandson the importance of using his time on those things that would benefit him and help him succeed in life. Using this unique teaching moment he taught a valuable, i.e. time is precious and setting our life goals and working towards achieving them is always more productive than trying to teach the figurative pig to sing. 

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Let’s help our children navigate through their challenges by teaching them to use their time constructively and on what is really important. It will be a big benefit and blessing to them later in their life.



Happy Failing Forward,