A Karate Story – The Spider Web
No Excuses – The Spider Web
Once upon a time there was a young spider that had just left home to make his way in the world. He had been walking for days and days and was getting very hungry.
“I’m so hungry and I don’t know what to do,” he said to himself.
An ant that happened to be passing by overheard the spider and told him to go see the wise old owl in the hollow of the oak tree. So the young spider took the recommendation and went to see the owl.
As he approached the owl, the spider lamented, “I’m hungry and don’t know what to do.”
The owl said, “Build a web or starve.” The spider replied, “But I’m too young.” The owl said, “Build a web or starve.”
The spider went away and tried to build a web, but the wind came and blew it down.
The next day the spider went back to the owl. “It’s too hard. The wind just came and blew my web down.”
The owl said, “Build a web or starve”
The spider went away and started to build the web again, but a rabbit came dashing through the woods and destroyed the web.
The next day the spider went back to the owl “I can’t figure it out and the rabbits just run through my web and destroy it.”
The owl said, “Build a web or starve”
The spider was so frustrated! He left the owl and went about again making his web. He worked so hard and made a great web, but that night a branch broke from a tree and fell right into the spider’s web and totally destroyed it. The next morning the spider stomped into the owl’s hollow.
“You are supposed to be wise but you keep saying the same thing, ‘Build a web or starve. Build a web or starve.’ Well, I keep doing what you say and it doesn’t work. My web gets destroyed every time I build it.”
The owl said, “Build a web or starve” The spider yelled back, “Can’t you say anything else?”
The old owl didn’t say anything for a minute. He turned his head right, and he turned his head left. Then he looked right at the spider and said, “In life we are either growing or we are dying. There is no staying the same. Life accepts no excuses. Making your web is a choice to live. Making excuses and giving up is a path that leads away from that. No Excuses!”
This hit the spider like a ton of bricks! He finally understood what the owl meant. He got to work right away. He built 54 complete spider webs in the next week. If one got destroyed, he had others that were catching bugs. As soon as one was gone, he built another. He turned his life around and became a very famous builder of spider webs and was an inspirational teacher to all spiders.
Finally, even the Emperor of Japan wanted to know the secret behind the spider’s great success so he could teach all his samurai warriors how to become that successful. When he asked the spider what his secret was, do you know what the spider said? Just two words. “No Excuses!”
