There’s an intersection near my house that should have a “Duck Crossing” sign because drivers often have to wait for the local waterfowl community to cross from their comfortable nap spot (a grassy section along the canal) to their favorite eatery (the house on the corner) on the other side of the street.

Now yellow-billed ducks waddling slowly across the road are always cute but what I saw on this particular morning was YouTube video worthy.

As I headed to my dreaded CrossFit gym in the predawn light, I noticed some movement in the distance and stopped instinctively as this is an almost daily occurrence. I looked to see what I thought would be a pair of ducks: what I saw was a pair of ducks with ONE teeny, tiny, still fuzzy baby duck walking between them.

Now that’s adorable in and of itself but what caught my attention, and subsequently created a learning moment, was what happened when they got to the curb on the other side of the road.

As mom and dad easily hopped up on the curb to get a front row seat for breakfast, Junior attempted to follow only to do a chest plant against the side of the curb that knocked him back to the ground! What was an easy success for mom and dad was a failure for him.

But Junior didn’t give up. He tried again and again. And again. And on the fifth attempt, he made it! I saw it with my own eyes because I sat in the intersection and watched, much to the chagrin of my fellow drivers.

As I drove away I thought, “How many times do I come up against an obstacle that’s bigger than my current ability to conquer and, rather than continue to try until I succeed, I give up and never achieve the success that would come if I kept trying?”

Lesson learned.

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Thomas A. Edison