Stories: Homeword

I Think I Can - I Thought I Could!

Kathy takes shopping seriously. Unlike me, she actually plans, checks online, and looks through catalogues and sales papers. Buying a gift for someone is important to her. She sets a high priority on selecting “just the right” gift.

“It’s over here,” she says walking briskly.

We pass the recently published novels. She doesn’t even notice our 18-year-old daughter’s favorite writer. Together, we head for the back of the bookstore – to the children’s book department.

“We are shopping for Jenny’s graduation present?” I ask, seeking reassurance. “Yes,” Kathy insists. “It’s right here.”

Kathy reaches to a shelf. She hands me what looks like a child’s book published in the ‘30s.

“Do you really think she’ll like it?” I inquire with a worried look on my face.

“Just sit down and read it,” she suggests.

The blue steam engine on the cover is whimsical.The letters of the title – The Little Engine That Could – is printed in a matching blue. I open the cover and begin to read.

The tale of a small engine that takes on a big task to help the stranded circus troup is shrouded with meaning drawn from real life. The story’s theme focuses on the value of optimism and hard work.

An early version reads in the final pages: “As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.’

“As it neared the top of the grade, which had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, ‘I – think – I – can, I – think – I – can.’ It reached the top by drawing out bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, ‘I thought I could, I thought I could.’”

Looking up, I smile, hand the book back to Kathy, and we head to the checkout counter. The phone rings. Jenny is nearly a month into her first year in college. She has adjusted well and says she “loves it!”

I pick up my phone.

“Guess what?” Jenny proclaims with a tone of satisfaction.

“What? I playfully reply.

“I made an “A” on my first English paper,” she says, and then her voice changes. “I wasn’t sure I could.”

Jenny goes on to talk about how she had worried if she could make the grades she had in high school now that she is in college.

“You think you can,” Jenny says reflectively. “I thought I had what it would take, but you never know until you give it a try.”

At first glance, Jenny doesn’t appear to have a “lion’s” heart. In fact, many would assume that she was more like a “lamb.” And they wouldn’t be completely wrong.

But ever since she was a small child, she was a big thinker. Big thinkers aren’t naive and they aren’t fool-hearted either. Simply put, big thinkers look at obstacles and aren’t discouraged by the fear that often paralyzes others and keeps them incarcerated in procrastination.

Big thinkers, like the little train that could and like Jenny, believe if they work hard that maybe – just maybe – they can!

We all face challenges in life. Some challenges are more devastating than others, but all require us to answer the question, “Do I think I can?”

The reward we attain if we “do” is the exhilaration we feel as we soar “down the grade.”

The feeling of “I thought I could” fuels the spirit to tackle the next – task, chore, calling, hardship, misunderstanding, illness, loss, disappointment, failure.

Today, in the midst of life’s challenges, let’s look up at the obstacles towering above us and dare to ask – maybe I can?

And then, let’s do it!

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