Michael Lemm

Where Is Your Arrow Aimed??

Visiting my local Barnes & Noble I discovered a book called "This Glorious
Quest" by Colin Pearce. Leafing thru it I found a little story that I quite
liked.

Quote:
Robin Hood lay dying.

Maid Marion gathered the Merry Men to hear his last words and dying wishes.

'Good Friar Tuck', he said. 'Please open yon window that I may gaze one last time upon my beloved Sherwood.

'Sweet Marion, place the downy pillow under my shoulder that I may rest
thereon.

'Little John, my old friend, hand me my trusted long bow fashioned from the
springy yew tree.

'Honest Will Scarlet, pass me an arrow crafted of birch, fletched with the
feathers of the King's grey goose.'

As each one quietly and reverently did as asked, Robin Hood gasped hi
instructions, 'Now I bid thee, swear an oath on my life'.

'On thy life, old friend', they choked, struggling to hold back their tears.

As he pressed the feathered arrow shaft to his lips and drew back the bow
with all his strength, Robin Hood uttered his last words. 'Your pledge:
Where this arrow falls there I will be buried.'

Solemnly they pledged --- and two days later they buried him on top of the
dressing table.

And the moral of the story? Like most people, Robin Hood aimed too low and
his shot fell too short. Just as Robin Hood's shot fell short of Sherwood
(his target), so many people are out there aiming for nothing and hitting
that target of nothing on a daily basis.

So, what can we do? Pick our targets well -- aim not too low, not too close,
but at a target that is still in sight and still reachable. That is, we
should set our goals high, but we should also have realistic expectations
about them. And just like the archer becomes better at hitting his or her
targets with practice, so do we.

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