The Happy Frog

October first, 2016

The Happy Frog

Today I recall,

In the illustration above, we can see the frog appears very happy sitting in a boiling pot of water. Its life will be extinguished soon. To make a comparison with us humans, I’ll write about our inclination to pursue happiness.

Often we confuse our personal desires with the desires of other people or group of people. Without thinking, we tend to want to be like everyone else. We want to belong to the group. After all, we need social contact; we are social animals seeking acceptance. If we believe that all the others are happy living the way they do, then we also want to live as they live. Gradually our tastes and values ??become similar to those of our community, and even our nation. We learn not to tolerate what is different, and we’re afraid of the unknown. We’re uncomfortable with changes because we do not understand what these changes might bring.

So, if someone dares to leave what seems like a happy world, he or she is looked upon with suspicion and called crazy. We try to stay away from him or her. This attitude reminds me of a quote from T. S. Eliot that says: “In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away”.

From my perspective, we should understand that it is possible for the frog to be happy outside of the pot before it starts boiling. It’s possible for us to be different and be free – free of the conformity around us if we dare to be different. It’s possible to be happy and seem like a fugitive at the same time.

Hector Garcia