A popular fable, "The Animal School," by George H. Reavis, illustrates why we should value differences and not hump everyone into the same mold.
Once upon a time the animals...organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying...
The duck was excellent in swimming -- in fact, better than his instructor; but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running...
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but he had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class, where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down...
The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.
At the end of the year an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well and also could run, climb, and fly a little had the highest average and was named valedictorian.
Appreciate the fact that you may be an eagle, your friend may be a duck, your sister may be a rabbit, and your mom may be a squirrel. You all have different strengths and weaknesses and that's the beauty of it. Can you see how silly it is to compare an eagle with a squirrel and say, "Which one is better?" Likewise, can you see how nonsensical it is to compare yourself with someone at school and think, "I'm better than her," or "I'm not as good as he is." No one is better or worse than anyone else, just different.
