Updated 2021
Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar
I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport in Dubai. 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 Abdul, 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: Abdul’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, Abdul 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.’
Abdul 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, Abdul said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The NST, Star and Sun Today.’
As they were pulling away, Abdul 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, Abdul told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.
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, Abdul ,’ I was amazed and asked him, ‘have you always served customers like this?’
Abdul 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. really hard’ said Abdul.
‘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, slowly … a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’
‘I take it that it has paid off for you,’ I said.
‘It sure has,’ Abdul 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.’
Abdul made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.
Start becoming an eagle today … one small step every week..next week… And next…And….
A great Thought..
“You don’t die if you fall in water, you die only if you don’t swim.
Thats the Real Meaning of Life.
Improve yourself and your skills in a different way.
Be an Eagle. .not a Duck.
***
This piece was written and sent to me from one of my nurses, Rieds, who in taking CELBANPrep Writing Levels One and Two excelled. As you read her story, you can understand why I invited her to be trained as a writing coach! Not just because of her skills in writing English, but because of her encouraging, loving and supporting nature.
Here was my reply.
Dear Rieds,
Thank you for this comment that you wrote and posted in response to An Interview with Kim. I read it with great interest. You have a knack for storytelling, and your writing is exceptional! We really do have a choice: each one of us. That you chose to take the time to write this story of your personal experience tells me that you have integrity being an eagle and not a duck. As such you inspire others through your example.
The greatest thing is the depth of wisdom in your story telling, one that you have not included but that I will add here; because, your story has many levels of reflection.
- It tells the story of who you are, the choices you make, and
- It inspires others to do the same.
But, there is more to it then that. In reflecting on me, that this was in response to the article An Interview with Kim says:
- That you are relating the story of the driver and his code of ethics/conduct to who I am and what I have done with CELBANPrep.
- That in your eyes you see me doing what Abdul did: being an Eagle and going above and beyond what is expected by “[Getting] my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.”
- In this way the destination is not only the CELBAN but becoming a registered nurse in Canada, providing resources with a Compassionate Pricing Policy, and a super friendly environment.
It is so very true. We get to choose whether we will quack or we will soar. When it comes to people who tell me, “CELBANPrep 2018 is expensive for an ebook,” they are telling me and everyone else what their choice has been.
Eagles do not soar without effort. Abdul did not succeed without effort. You did not succeed without effort.
We can all sit around quacking like ducks; or, we can indeed choose to soar with the eagles.
So it is. Worlds without end. Amen.
In Spirit,
Kim
Thank you to Rieds and all the other Internationally Educated Nurses that were willing to invest in them selves and trusted me in getting them to where they were going safely.
CELBANPrep would not exist were it not for the investment these nurses made in them selves, their futures, and in me.
Kim
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