30 Castles in the Sky

Castles in the Sky.

Today a tale about spiders.  Spiders are usually born on the lower branches of bushes or trees. Some for one reason or another decide to stay right there in the lower branches when old enough they leave the web of their parents and move over to another corner and build their own web. There in the safety, they catch the odd fly and have enough on which to live, not fat but enough for them to survive.

Others decide to climb to the higher branches and build their webs on the exposed branches of the trees and bushes. These are the webs that get torn and battered by wind and rain. They are also the webs that are up where most of the flies are, so the captures they make are more frequent. In turn, these spiders eat better, are stronger and bigger. 

One day one such spider met a very small young spider on the branch of a bush. The young spider looked at the big one in awe. The large spider asked the youngster what he was looking at. “Your size,” said the youngster.  “Ah,” said the large spider.

The large spider went on to explain that some spiders chose to stay safe in the dark lower branches while others decided to struggle to the top. At the top the work was hard, but the rewards were plenty. 

“So, you see,” said the large spider, “You can look up in jealousy from a place of safety or you can work hard and build castles in the sky.”


It is a bit like life really. You can potter about with the things you feel comfortable with, or you can strike out and try things new and do things to delight the heart.

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