Be the Best of Whatever You Are

If you can't be a shrub on the top of the hill
Be a shrub in the valley but be
The best little shrub by the side of the hill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of grass
And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass,
But be the liveliest bass in the lake.

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us.
There is big work to do and there's lesser to do
And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail;
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail.
Be the best of whatever you are.

-Douglas Malloch