(You will need one baking potato and two plastic drinking straws.)
(Hold up the potato.) Scouts, think of this potato as your obstacle to a desired goal, whether it’s your advancement to Patrol Leader or earning money for that new mountain bike you want. (Hold up the first plastic straw in your other hand.)
Now think of this straw as your desire to reach your goal on the other side of the obstacle—in this case, the potato. (Push the straw against the potato. The straw will bend over.) Notice that if you go at your obstacle half-heartedly, your will to reach your goal is easily bent. You are easily kept from your goal. (Now take the second straw and hold it in your fist, placing your thumb over the open end of the straw.)
But, if you are willing to give it your all, you can easily reach your goal on the other side! (Thrust the straw at the potato, keeping your thumb over the open end of the straw. The trapped air in the straw makes it rigid and the straw is easily thrust cleanly into the potato. Hold up the potato and straw to show the Scouts that indeed you have reached your goal.) This demonstration was meant to show you the value of not giving up, even if an obstacle seems too great to surpass!