Oyster Story

There once was an oyster whose story I’ll tell,
Who found a grain of sand had got under her shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave her much pain,
For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.
Now, did she berate the working of Fate
That had led her to such a deplorable state?
No — as she lay on the shelf, she said to herself,
“If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it.”

So the years rolled by as the years always do,
And she came to her ultimate destiny — stew.
And this small grain of sand which had bothered her so,
Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.
Now this tale has a moral — for isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;
What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin
With all of the things that get under our skin

The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances.~Martha Washington