TAKE A STEP BACK

A Story With A Valuable Lesson.

A boy said to his grandfather,
"Grandpa, I would like you to teach me something they won't teach me in school. Something that would be valuable and important in my life."

The grandfather took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, then whispered,
"Something they won't teach you in school? Okay, fine."

He took the boy by the hand and they went for a walk; he was silent, he didn’t speak. They went down to the end of the field and stopped in front of a small fence.

The grandfather then told the boy,
"Look at this fence; it's the smallest fence in this area. I want you to jump over it. I want to see that you can jump over it. Come on, jump over it!"

The boy stared at the fence, then shook his head and said,
"Grandpa, I can't jump over the fence, it's too high. It's really high!"

The grandfather whistled,
"Oh, come on, just try. You can do this!"

The boy nodded his head slightly, took a deep breath, and prepared to jump. He ran towards the fence and attempted to jump over it, but he struck the fence with his chest and fell to the ground.

He sprang to his feet, made a second attempt, but promptly fell down again. He got up immediately and leaped into the air to jump over the fence, but he tumbled to the ground. He fell down several times and got up again, jumped, fell down, and got up. The situation began to look impossible.

However, on the seventh attempt, the boy stepped further back, about ten paces away from the fence. He took a run-up and successfully jumped over the fence. He was so excited by his victory that he clapped his hands and screamed for joy.

The grandfather asked him,
"So tell me... How did you do it?"

The boy answered,
"I stepped further back before I jumped! Wow, I never knew that if you want to have a great jump, you must take a step back!"

At that moment, the grandfather placed his arm around the boy's shoulder, smiled softly, and then whispered into his ear,

"Now listen, grandson... this thing I'm about to teach you now, they won't teach you in school. Sometimes in life, you have to take a step back to move forward and achieve great things. We must remind ourselves that while moving forward is important, taking a step back and giving yourself a chance to breathe, slow down and press pause is also vital for you to recharge, gain a different perspective, and reflect. Often, you need to allow yourself to take a step back for you to see, fix your mistakes, and determine your priorities in life. Once you're determined to succeed, never be afraid to take a step back; it will push you farther in life!"

Thanks for reading.

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