Weekend Food For Thought - The Meerkat and the Frog
Tom went to visit his mentor Dwyer for his weekly catch up.
It was obvious that the younger man was troubled by something, so Dwyer asked him what was wrong.
Tom explained that he had experienced a tough week. He’d had an argument with his dad, he felt hurt by something one of his friends had said and he had missed out on a promotion at work.
“So what should I do now?” he asked.
Dwyer looked at Tom and said, “Did you know that meerkats eat scorpions?”
“What?”
“It’s amazing. These cute little guys attack and eat poisonous scorpions. It seems that they have been stung so often that they have become resistant to their poison and it doesn’t hurt them one bit.”
“What?” Tom responded incredulously.
“And then there are these beautiful little frogs in South America who are extremely toxic. They aren’t born that way, but they get their toxins from the food that they eat and it builds up in their system until they become dangerous to eat. Their bright colours warn potential predators to keep their distance.”
Tom shook his head, “I don’t understand, I come to you with a problem and you give me a biology lesson.”
Dwyer smiled.
“When you experience the poison of pain, you have two choices. You can be like the meerkat and use the experience to become more resilient. Or you can become like the frog, allowing the poison to rise up in your system until you’re toxic and everyone wants to keep their distance.”
Everyone experiences pain, how you respond is up to you.
You can be a meerkat, or you can be a frog.
Which one are you?