In the hollow of a tree, higher than the eye can see...nine wood ducks hatch, one by one. "That's good!" says Mama. "We're almost done." One last egg is very still...Finally, the smallest egg hatches. Then it's time for all the wood ducks to make the BIG jump from the tree-where their mother made her nest-to the water below. Ducklings One through Nine make the leap. But Duckling Ten isn't so sure...

For anyone taking a leap into something new—perfect for grads.

This book was written for people who probably feel they never need it. Its main purpose is to motivate and encourage the reader, whoever and wherever they are, that it is possible to rise up, do better, and excel as a person. It is easy to get into the trap of daily painful existence, blaming circumstances, the environment, other people, and things around us for our negative outcomes in life. None of us love to remain poor or insignificant. We all want to achieve and attain status in life. We all love to excel, yet very few of us do. The book argueswith compelling stories and evidence from history, science, society, and academiathat human destiny, in its most crude form, is like a garden. When left alone, a garden only grows with useless weeds, but when good seeds are sown in it, the ground is well cultivated, the crops cared for, and the garden teeming lively with crops that feed us well. The author shares with the reader his personal experiences and those of scores of other people in the world to demonstrate the indomitable power of the human being to get better. Spiced with easy, witty poems and scores of true stories, the book convinces the reader of their power to excel. The book does this using sequential themes built around eight instructively captivating chapters as follows: 1. Leap forward and get better. 2. Use you power; you are more powerful than you think 3. Pursue excellence; it is your calling 4. Avoid mediocrity and all its roots 5. Accept that you are different 6. Dedicate yourself to service And when you do all these and you realize it is tough, 7. Take heart; the world seldom cheers excellence 8. Now do this and leap forward.