Excerpts from my new book: Short Stories for Success for Young Readers: A New Lexicon Unfolded

"This is the first story of my new book: SHORT STORIES FOR SUCCESS FOR YOUNG READERS: A NEW LEXICON UNFOLDED. I believe this book could be ideal for children in the age group of 10-12, to read. I hope you enjoy reading it.

A for Attitude

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” – Zig Ziglar, American Motivation Speaker

“Now, let me help you understand why I am putting ‘Attitude’ in the front.” Thus began Kamala Teacher.

“I want all of you to write all the 26 English alphabets one after another in your notebook.”

All children wrote:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

“Right! Now assign number 1 below the alphabet A, then the number 2 below B, 3 below C and so on till you reach twenty six below Z.”

The children followed carefully:

A 1

B 2

C 3

D 4

E 5

F 6

G 7

H 8

I 9

J 10

K 11

L 12

M 13

N 14

O 15

P 16

Q 17

R 18

S 19

T 20

U 21

V 22

W 23

X 24

Y 25

Z 26

“Now, let us look at some of the words that describe qualities that bring success. Let us take ‘Effort.’”

“Can you write the word ‘EFFORT’ on your notebook? Finished…Now assign the numbers from this table against each letter of this word and total it up.”

Everyone was doing the arithmetic.

EFFORT
5+6+6+15+18+20 = 70

The children wondered what she was trying to convey.

“Now let us try the word ‘HARD WORK’.”

The children tried.

HARD WORK
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98

She asked them to try other words too.

SKILL came to 61; Luck came to 45; KNOWLEDGE CAME TO 96

“Now try the word ‘ATTITUDE’.”

The children wrote carefully: ATTITUDE

                                                     1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100

“You see! English language seems to convey that among many traits that bring success, the word ATTITUDE alone represents hundred percent results. Does it look strange? Yes, ATTITUDE is the key to success. It is not your strength, not your skill, not your knowledge, not hard work, not money, not power, not skill, not luck, not anything else. Of course, they all help. But, it is one’s attitude that makes the difference, more than anything else. Your attitude is everything.

History is full of people who succeeded or failed because of their attitude.”

“Can you recall one of the most elementary stories you might have heard to show how attitude made the difference between success and failure?” Kamala teacher stared at the class silently.

There was spellbound silence in the class. The children were looking at all sides with curiosity and doubt.

“Come on. Think about it,” encouraged Kamala teacher.

“The story of The Hare and Tortoise!” One student in the last row shouted from behind.

“Excellent! Brinda, can you come forward to my side and tell the story to everyone so that they can recollect?”

Brinda, the usually shy child from the last row, hesitantly came forward. She initially struggled for words. Encouraged and prompted by Kamala teacher, Brinda presented the story of The Hare and Tortoise. When finished, Kamala teacher retold the same story and the entire class listened with rapt attention.

“One day a rabbit boasted about how fast he could run and teased the turtle for being slow. Much to the rabbit’s surprise, the turtle decided to challenge the rabbit. They agreed to a race, as rabbit was over-confident about winning. The race began and the rabbit raced forward at great speed way ahead of the turtle. Halfway through the race, rabbit couldn’t see the turtle anywhere. He thought, ‘After all, the turtle should be crawling slowly and can never beat me in the race. Why not I have a small nap in the meantime? Even if the turtle passed me, I could always catch up and finish ahead of it.’ The rabbit went to sleep. In the meantime, the turtle was slow and steady, stayed confident, moved ahead step by step and wouldn’t quit, no matter what happened. The rabbit was complacent and slept longer than he had thought. When he woke up, the turtle was still nowhere. He leaped forward in great hurry towards the final point only to notice that the turtle had already reached there and waiting for him. Thus, the slow turtle won the race against the rabbit purely out of his attitude to win and the rabbit lost because of his complacency and over-confidence.

Complacency is a matter of one’s attitude.”

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