There is a tale about two frogs that I know from my father. I have seen it online too, but for me this is not a story I have read – it is a story that was told to me when I was a child, and in this way it became deeply etched in my memory. That is why I am now retelling it in my own words and with my own reflection.
Once upon a time, two frogs fell into a jar of fresh milk, which turned into a real trap for them. They could not get out because the bottom was too far down to push off from it, and the rim of the jar was too high for them to cling to and pull themselves up.
The two frogs kept swimming, kicking with their little legs, but everything suggested there was no way out. One of them – the more rational one – analysed the situation and told the other that she was giving up. She argued her case very convincingly and concluded that it was a waste of energy and a sign of foolishness to go on swimming in the hope of rescue. Then she let go – and drowned.
The other frog kept kicking with her legs. She told herself that for her too it looked hopeless to find a way out, but since she still had the strength to struggle, she would go on for as long as she could. And she did. At one point, when her strength had almost completely left her, she felt something solid under her feet. It turned out that through all her effort and kicking, a lump of butter had formed. She stepped onto the lump and jumped out of the jar.
This is the end of the tale as it is usually told to children, who are then asked what the moral of the story is. But for me, that moral changed over time. At first, it simply supported me not to give up, even when things were very hard and I could see no results from my efforts. This tale has been a source of hope in the most hopeless times for me. When I finally came out of the prison I was in, I understood that this had happened because I had earned it – because I had not stopped swimming in the jar of milk, no matter how hard it had been.
That is how I came to see that this is not only a story about hope. It is a story about how we create miracles in our own lives.
The lump of butter may look like a miracle to the people around us, but it is created by ourselves – through our effort, perseverance, and commitment to the processes of inner growth.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
