You heard about the sign posted on a farm fence? Inside there was a big and mean   bull. The sign read, "Don't attempt to cross this field unless you can do it in 9.9 seconds. The bull can do it in 10!" Don't try to cross that field unless you are prepared! And isn't that the way it is in life? We have to be ready when the opportunity arises or else we will have little chance of success. Sixth-grade teacher Ms. Shelton believed in readiness. When she walked into the classroom on the first day and began writing words of an eighth-grade level on the blackboard, the students immediately said that the words were not at their level and they couldn't learn them. Their teacher insisted that they could and would learn these words. She said that she would never teach down to them. Ms. Shelton ended by saying that one of the students in the classroom could go on to greatness, maybe even be president someday, and she wanted them to prepare for that day. Ms. Shelton said those words many years ago. Little did she know that someday one of her students--Jesse Jackson--would take them seriously. She believed that if they were well prepared, they could achieve high goals. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "People only see what they are prepared to see." If that's true, then it is also true that they only become what they are prepared to become. And a lot of life is just about getting ready. Think of today as a chance to prepare yourself for the exciting future you are looking for. Today is not wasted. If you desire more from life, you can use today as training. For you will experience only what you are prepared to experience. Something wonderful can happen. And you can use today to get ready for tomorrow. Why did Ms. Shelton insist students could and would learn the words of an eighth-grade level?
Because she believed one of the students in the classroom could go on to greatness. Because the words of an eighth-grade level is just so so to the Sixth-grade students. Because she believed that if they were well prepared, they could achieve high goals. Because it is also true that they only become what they are prepared to become.