Lessons from Frogs

Occasionally I receive a heartwarming story from the website 52best.com.  Here is one I received a few years ago:

“An Army of Frogs”

“An army of frogs [correct name for a group of frogs] were leaping through the forest one day when two of the frogs suddenly fell into a deep, deep pit. All of the other frogs gathered around the hole to look down on their two fallen comrades.

To jump out looked absolutely impossible. They all began to sadly shake their heads and to croak out dismal and dire warnings.

“It’s too deep!” croaked one frog. Another croaked that there was no way that they would ever be able to get out of the pit alive.

The two fallen frogs began to continuously jump as they tried to get out of the pit, but the frogs that were watching kept croaking louder and louder at them that they might as well stop, because they were as good as dead and just wasting their time.

One of the two frogs finally gave up and heeded the pessimistic advice of the frogs at the top. He quit jumping and literally “croaked” and died.

The other frog just kept right on jumping and leaping harder than ever in spite of all the loud croaks of disapproval from the frogs that were watching around the top of the hole. They kept croaking shouts at him to quit jumping and save himself from all the pain and suffering he was incurring as he leaped and fell back down to the bottom of the pit over and over again.

Finally, he leaped even harder than ever and to the surprise of all the other frogs he jumped right out of the deep pit. The other frogs asked him,

“Why did you keep leaping even though we yelled and croaked at you to stop?”

It was then that the frog explained to them that he was partially deaf and he had thought they were cheering for him and yelling words of encouragement to him the entire time!

A little encouragement can go a long way and as Babe Ruth once said, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”  How do we use the power of our words?”

I loved this story!  In just a few words it gives two really important messages for you and your career.

The first is how important it is to get the kind of support that encourages you to go on.  Have you surrounded yourself with supportive people? Your friends, colleagues, family, and your coach all are critical to your success.  Giving that support to others is equally important.  If you want to receive support you must give support to others!

The second message is one on how important attitude is.   If your attitude is a negative (I’ll never be able to do this.  This is impossible.), your prediction will be correct.  There is truth in the children’s story The Little Engine that Could.  That engine thought “I think I can.  I know I can.”  With that kind of attitude nothing is impossible.  Find the positive in every situation as you work toward your goal.  Your attitude is as important as your aptitude-maybe more important and you get to choose that!

Need some help staying positive and happy? A coach can help.  If you don’t like being a Debby Downer and you are serious about wanting to change,  I can help you.  Call me at 781-598-0388 or email me at asparker@asparker.com for A Sparker session to ignite your positive attitude and many new possibilities.

You’ll also find other uplifting messages by subscribing to 52Best’s Friday Morning Story from which I received The Army of Frogs.