Be A Bush if You Can't Be a Tree

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,

Be a scrub in the valley -- but be

The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush, be a bit of the grass,

Doing something for somebody's sake.

If you can't be a muskie, then just be a bass --

But the livliest bass in the lake.

We can't all be captains, some have to be crew,

There's something for all of us here,

There's big work, and little for people to do,

And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be the 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