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achievement
July 2009 
Stand up and move on
Mila
Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe falls 10 feet from its mother’s womb and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over and tucks its legs under its body. From this position it considers the world for the first time and shakes off the last vestiges of the birthing fluid from its eyes and ears. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its offspring to the reality of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels.
When it doesn’t get up, the violent process is repeated again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.
Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety.
The late Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing novelised biographies of such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished and they go to work. They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they’re knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they’ve accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do.” ~ Craig B Larson
Access: Public
interesting piece Mila. It's a lot like establishing good work ethics in children so they will hopefully become productive citizens &/or not afraid of going after their goals that sometimes shape strongly in their heads.
I never knew that about giraffes tho….thanks for the skinny on that.
Hope all is well with you……twb:)
Thanks for the kick Mila!
Thank you Mila for this wonderful blog post. I love the story of the giraffe birth process and we can learn from our co-inhabitants of this earth about life.
I like the Irving Stone biography The Agony and the Ecstasy about Michelangelo. Since I like van Gogh I want to look for the Irving Stone biography of his.
blessings,
Samme
Wow, that's wild….and profound. Thanks!
nothing like kick starting life
Girl, you so know it! Resilience is survival skills. Thank you GOD for my early kicks! Blessings for this affirming story. Get up to life, man!
Love lots. Sherri
I wonder if the third or fourth kick still seems as shocking to the baby as the first one? Life seem unreasonable? The world seem “out to get you”?
I suspect the baby is not complcated by such thoughts. S/he gets a kick and does the only logical thing needed: get up.
WOW!
Wow! I got busy somewhere else and you all got busy swarming all over my blog! Thank you dear friends for all your endearing kicks, am all bruised now - LOL!
Before I respond to each one, here's some wonderful music from sexy Jamie Cullum for all of you beautiful kickers. I get a kick out of you all!
Yes, Pat there's some useful parenting tip in there as well! When I came across the article in the one of the dailies I thought I had to share it with you all! Can't wait to have Milind read this! New learning for me on giraffes, too! Thanks for the kicks! Hugs and blessings!
Tom, I remembered that the giraffe has the biggest heart among animals and this gesture from mommy giraffe to her newborn is really meant to “kickstart its life”.
Meenakshi, loved where your thoughts got kicked into by this read! A newborn lives in the now so am sure it wasn't judging its mom and would have taken the kick as something like a nudge or a gesture of endearment or a form of play. I guess the calf must have considered it as the latter.
mmm I like [the musica lol] I got quite a kick out of it ;)
Blessings and love. Sherrilene
Sherri, I love Jamie Cullum's music and if not for this blog I wouldn't have had the opportunity to listen to them in a hundred years - LOL! Every moment opens doors! Am so thrilled to have found Everlasting Love, I've Got You Under My Skin, etc. Jazzy music is my cuppa! Grateful like you for my early kicks in life, and for all those resilience builders!
Delighted by your presence, Janet, Lisa. Hugs and kicks back at yah, dear sisters!
Samme, I hope you found what you found Stone's biography of Van Gogh! Hugs and blessings!
Thanks for the hookup. I totally love this style of music! I'm gonna mess around with him this evening. I know we're off topic totally but pardon me hahaha
Love you lots! Sherri
Mila, what a great story to tell.. there is much to learn from animals, I think sometimes we busy-mind humans loose the connection/understanding of our instinctual nature.. I love how you connected the giraffe mother's instinct to some of the great people who took the kicks from life as a sign to keep getting up.. walt disney is a hero of mine for that very reason.. just imagine what we would have missed out on had he decided to stop trying… & I think I might know how your story ends ;-)
Thank you for that wonderful image gift of a giraffe kissing her calf, indeed a soothing ending to 'hurtful' motherly kicks! Now I'm just thinking also that we can look at the story of our spiritual growth along the same context. As each of us evolves, we need those nurturing and wake-up kicks to make us stand up and move on. I love you and thank you for the kicks, tara!
Wow, Great piece!
As I'm very interested in Wisdom from Animals (Red Indian Animal Totems & Medicine), this came at the right time for me in more than one way!
I needed a kick to remind me that it is what you do with life (that's happening to you) that's important, and that I also need to get on with my writing project about Animal Wisdom for Kids (a set of illustrated cards) and the wisdom booklet with it…hmmmmm!!!
Thanks.
It also inspired me to add something about this to my profile…
All is linked and you attract what you need/want!
Lots of love and kicks
Marlene
great post,
thank you Mila..
Love
Ange..
A warm welcome to my new friend Marlene! Delighted to inspire you and wish you all the best in your Animal Wisdom for Kids project and the wisdom booklet. Which ages are you targetting? Thanks for the love and the kicks (glad they're creating more friends for me)!
Wonderful to see you here, ange. I like your new icon and am going over to your page for a closer look at it and at you. Blessings!