More and more millionaires are made every day. We don’t hear about most of them, but the ones we do hear about tend to be the celebrities in entertainment or sports who are an “overnight success.” We don’t know too much about them one day, and then the next they’re all over the news, sitting fat and rich. “Oh, to be so lucky,”you think as you jealously go back to your 9-5 job, making barely enough money to get by on.
What most people tend to miss is that success is not an overnight thing that just happens. Sure, there are lottery winners who get lucky, but that is “new money” and rarely lasts because the people who win that money don’t know how to handle money. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote, “a fool and his money are soon parted.” There is surely some truth to that.
But if these people aren’t the “overnight success” that they seem to be, how did they get to where they are? How did they make it big when so many others in the world didn’t? Perhaps the Two Frogs in the Milk story can shed some light on this…
Two Frogs in the Milk
This is the story of two frogs. One frog was fat and the other skinny. One day, while searching for food, they inadvertently jumped into a vat of milk. They couldn’t get out, as the sides were too slippery, so they were just swimming around.
The fat frog said to the skinny frog, “Brother frog, there’s no use paddling any longer. We’re just going to drown, so we might as well give up.” The skinny frog replied, “Hold on brother, keep paddling. Somebody will get us out.” And they continued paddling for hours.
After a while, the fat frog said, “Brother frog, there’s no use. I’m becoming very tired now. I’m just going to stop paddling and drown. It’s Sunday and nobody’s working. We’re doomed. There’s no possible way out of here.” But the skinny frog said, “Keep trying. Keep paddling. Something will happen, keep paddling.” Another couple of hours passed.
The fat frog said, “I can’t go on any longer. There’s no sense in doing it because we’re going to drown anyway. What’s the use?” And the fat frog stopped. He gave up. And he drowned in the milk. But the skinny frog kept on paddling.
Ten minutes later, the skinny frog felt something solid beneath his feet. He had churned the milk into butter and he hopped out of the vat.
Author: Melissa D Zartman
The Takeaway
The difference between the people who make it big and the people who don’t is the same difference between the fat frog and the skinny frog. The skinny frog didn’t give up. He kept paddling. This is just like a person striving to do something who doesn’t quit when an obstacle is thrown in front of them. The successful one is the one who finds a way over, around, or maybe even right through the obstacle. The one who survives, wins, succeeds is the one who kept at it where most others would quit.
The other truth here is hidden in why the author chose to say a fat frog and a skinny frog. This isn’t explained, but I think I know the answer. You see, if someone is not doing well in one area of their life, they’re probably not doing too well in many others. If they’re not taking care of something as important as a major weight problem, they’re probably not able to stick and see many other important things in life through either. Perhaps the fat frog quit because he tends to quit many things and not see them through. He seems to have given up on good health, so why would he have the persistence and drive to keep going when stuck in the vat of milk?
This may not be true in all cases, but I’m sure it is true in most. If you don’t have the drive and persistence to be successful in every part of your life, you most likely won’t be highly successful in any one area of your life. Life is one indivisible whole and everything affects everything else. So the next time you see one of those “overnight successes,” don’t look away in jealousy. Admire them for sticking to what they wanted and seeing it through. In most cases, that’s exactly what they did!!!