The Optimistic Frog

We all need encouragement now and then; a pat on the back, a reminder that things will get better, a compliment for a job well done or even a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Being a writer is a lonely business; it’s just me and that computer page, daring me to put meaningful words on it.  And then there’s the great, unknown world of readers. Will they like what I’ve written well enough to buy it? Wherever we are in life, we all face dilemmas, hard things, things that seem insurmountable and challenges that are a lot more important than writing a best seller. The important thing is not to give up.  I hope you get a chuckle and maybe a lift out of this poem I found a few years ago.

The Optimistic Frog

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl,

One was an optimistic soul;

But the other took a gloomy view,

“We shall drown,” he cried without more ado.

So with a last despairing cry,

He flung up his legs and he said, “Good-bye.”

Quoth the other frog with a merry grin,

“I can’t get out but I won’t give in.

I’ll just swim ’round ’til my strength is spent,

Then I will die the more content.”

Bravely he swam ’til it would seem

His struggles began to churn the cream;

On the top of the butter at last he stopped

And out of the bowl he gaily hopped.

What of the moral? ‘Tis easily found;

If you can’t get out, keep swimming around.

–author unknown

“With men it is impossible but not with God; for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).