Millions Frog Legs

Yet another frog story....

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, "There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs--millions of them. They croak all during the night and are about to drive me crazy!"

So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, "Well...where are all the frogs?" The farmer said, "I was mistaken.  There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"

John Maxwell wrote this story in his book "Winning with People". He found that at a board meeting, he received a lot of complaints from his board members. It turned out , it came from the same person. The solution he proposed? If you are a leader and someone tells you there are "lots of complaints", then find out the source. It may turn out to be one person doing lots of complaining.

Another advice from I can find:
Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also--remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark.

I have my share of problems with complaining frogs. I actually think the best way is to avoid them. They are who they are and goods always triumph over evil in the end. And, I won't be able to please all the people in this world, then why try to?

I realize there were quite a numbers of stories on frogs I shared in my blog:

1. Parable of Boiled Frog

http://susan-passionateaboutlife.blogspot.com/2007/07/parable-of-boiled-frog.html

2. Frog and the Scorpion

http://susan-passionateaboutlife.blogspot.com/2007/05/some-evil-people-just-will-not-change.html

3. Tiny Frog

http://susan-passionateaboutlife.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-am-tiny-frog-but-i-can-achieve.html

I am a tiny frog but I can achieve wonders

A story of a tiny frog....

Once upon a time, a bunch of tiny frogs decided to embark on a competition to determine the first person to reach the top of a very high tower. On the appointed day, a large crowd of spectators gathered around the tower not only to watch the race but also to cheer on the contestants. However, no one in the crowd believed that any of the tiny frogs could possibly make it to the top of the tower. As the race commenced, the spectators began to make statements like;

“Why would these tiny guys make a fool of themselves? This is practically impossible”

“The tower is too high. There is no way they could ever get to the top.”

“Attempting to climb the tower is, on its own, a herculean task, let alone getting to the top of it”

“They will all soon drop out. But at least we get to have some entertainment.”

One by one, the tiny frogs started collapsing and dropping off the race with the exception of a few who were determined to follow through their pursuit. As they trudged on, the crowd yelled even louder;

“Why harm yourselves? You might even get killed!”

“You can’t go on doing this. Isn’t your life more valuable than whatever price you want to win?”

“He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day!”

As the voices got louder, the remaining frogs began giving up one by one until all of them dropped out, with exception of ONLY ONE who steadily continued climbing as if oblivious of the happenings around him. Although left alone in the race, he refused to give up. And in one long final leap, he made it to the top of the tower. After the applause had subsided and he had claimed his price, the spectators and the other contestants were curious to know how he did it. As the questions were flying, they noticed that he only nodded and gave no reply. 

Then the reality suddenly hit everyone. 

He was DEAF!

Lesson of the story:

Ignore the pessimism of others. It can take your dreams from you. Stay positive.

Be DEAF when people tell YOU that YOU can not fulfill YOUR dreams!

I always think there is a balance to everything. Let's not be affected with the pessimism and negativity from others but listen to facts and advice especially if they are in fact true. 

BE WISE