Miscellaneous Self Help

The Scorpion and the Frog

There once was a frog that lived in a pond.  One day a scorpion asked the frog if he could get a ride on the frog’s back to the other side of the pond.  The frog said, “If I give you a ride on my back, you will sting me”.  The scorpion said, “I promise I will not sting you.”  So the frog believed the scorpion and got on the back of the frog.  Frog started to swim to the other side of the pond.  Just before the other side of the pond, the scorpion stung the frog.  The frog said, “Why did you sting me, you promised me you wouldn’t.”  The scorpion said, “I just did what I scorpion would do, I sting things.”  With that, the frog made it to the other side of the pond and died as the scorpion climbed off his back onto dry land.

People are who they are and expecting them to be different is wishful thinking.  People can evolve and grow much like a caterpillar can become a butterfly but a horse will never become a bird.  The kind thing to do is to accept people as they are without placing expectations on them that they will likely not live up to.  When we expect the scorpion to not sting the frog the real issue is with us, not the scorpion.

I used to take every little slight from people personally.  One day I noticed a person that was often unkind to me also being unkind to someone else in the same exact way.  I realized in that moment that person probably treated everyone the same way so it had nothing to do with me.  I stopped taking everything so personally.  It was a watershed moment for me, and it freed me to from thinking I was a victim or there was something wrong with me. Most people are just trying to get through life the best way they know how.  Cut people some slack and let things go sometimes, it is good for the soul.  Even better, be kind to yourself by also accepting yourself as you are. 

God created you to be a unique individual, special in every way.  You are awesome and beautiful and worthy of being loved just the way you are.