The Beautiful Cow

A farmer had a beautiful cow. The cow produced wonderful milk and the farmer was very happy. Every evening as he took the cow to her shed he would praise and thank her and tell her how special she was.

The cow was very happy that she was so appreciated and that her milk was so highly valued. She was so happy that sometimes she would just run around her field as fast as she could just for fun.

One day a passer by saw the cow running and said to the farmer that she was so quick she could probably win a horse race. The farmer laughed but that night he sat and thought. Yes, her milk was very good and highly valued but if she could win a horse race he would have lots more money.

So in the morning the farmer explained to the cow that if the cow really wanted to be special she needed to win a horse race. The farmer platted straw into the cows tail to make it look like a horses. He painted her with mud to make her brown all over and put on a large saddle to hide her udders and blinkers on her head to hide her horns.

That afternoon he entered her into a race. The horses were very fast and the cow was quickly left behind and finished at very the back, way behind the horses and with people pointing and laughing at her.

When the farmer drove the cow home he was in a very bad mood and kept telling her how useless she was at running. He threw that saddle and blinkers into the corner of her shed with disgust and then washed the mud and straw off without even looking at her. That night he didn't praise her or thank her as he put her into her shed. 

The cow felt that she had let the farmer down very badly.

The following day the cow produced no milk and was very sad. The farmer was so angry with her he locked her in her shed. The next day she tried her best but could only make a little bit of milk but even that tasted sour. The cow did not run round the field for joy. She just stood in the corner and felt bad that she could not do what the farmer wanted.

And the moral of this little tale.

We all know someone who has a talent and we can take it for granted. Make sure you don’t undervalue it and begin to focus on all the things they can’t do. Make sure you take the time to celebrate what they are good at and make sure that they are appreciated. 

Don't spend time being disappointed with people for what they can’t do, it will make you and them feel bad. If you do you might just find that they become very sad inside and lose their confidence. Then they might not be able to do that very thing that they were so good at. You remember, that was thing that what was so special and that you used to value it so highly.