One of my favorite cartoon characters has always been Donald Duck I realize now that the reason is simply identification with the duck. For Donald, the day starts out sunshiny and bright as he sings his way into the day unaware that, within a very short time, all havoc will break loose.

I first met Donald through comic books and later at the movie theater where Saturday afternoon was cartoon frolics and the old Will Rogers would show at least 20 cartoons in a row before the double feature movie. All for twenty five cents. It was the Saturday sitter before television. I was elated when a Donald Duck cartoon came on the large screen. For Donald, simple tasks became insurmountable through obstacles which began to hinder and ultimately frustrate the poor duck to the point of uncontrollable outbursts of incomprehensible quacking.

As a kid (and even today) I didn’t battle with smarter than me nephews, conniving chipmunks or intelligent bees, but I did identify with Donald’s frustration. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

One cartoon I remember from years ago was Donald sitting on s stack of uncountable potatoes. He was in the Army-Air Force (it was a World War Two era cartoon) and assigned to the Kitchen Police (K.P.), and his job was peeling the spuds one by one. He was unhappy with the job as he joined the service not to peel potatoes, but to fulfill an ambition.

As Donald woefully sat amid the starchy mountains, he gazed out the window and watched the planes flying off into the wild blue yonder and, after the roar of the engines subsided, mournfully stated, “ I wanna fly!”

Even as a child I realized that Donald, consigned to a monotonous job, was so engrossed in self pity that he failed to realize that, after all, he was a duck…and ducks could fly any time; all they had to do was spread their wings and go.

As a small kid, I didn’t realize the full impact this little cartoon would have on my development. I was like Donald many times, feeling sorry for my current situation but too busy to realize what my wings were for. Too often we depend on other people or a change of conditions to meet our expectations. We do not give ourselves the credit we deserve by realizing and exerting out own potential.

Donald accepted his position, peeling potatoes and that was his job, what he was good for, according to someone else, and he reluctantly accepted what others thought he was incapable of doing.

Donald had something no other flyer had in the cartoon. Wings. He didn’t need an airplane to fly. He was a duck, but failed to understand what that meant and continued using his wings to peel potatoes rather than realizing his dream.

When I get frustrated and discouraged, I think back to that cartoon I saw several times as a young kid. Like Donald,I find myself frustrated to the point of jumping up and down with my fist in the air quacking obscenities. Never the less, each morning starts out as a new day, greeting by a song and thankfulness and hope. I may have had to peel potatoes for a while in order to survive, but I realized I did have wings and could use them when the time came.

We all have wings. It is time to stop quacking and start soaring. Thanks, Donald.