As told to the 22 year old me…
An old farmer had a mule. The mule worked hard 3 seasons of the year, but in the winter time the mule just lazed around the barn. Kicker was he still had to be feed and taken care of.
The farmer devised a plan whereby he would train the mule not eat.
Just about the time he got the mule trained it died.
Don told me that story, and I just looked at him waiting for the punch line. He was laughing like it was too funny for words.
I have thought of that story over the years. There is a lot of wisdom in it.
A cat was napping on the railroad tracks. A train came along and chopped off his tail. He turned around to see what had happened to his tail. While he was inspecting the damage another train came along from the other direction. It chopped off his head. 
From the jacket cover of the book