One afternoon, a small worm was wriggling its way through the forest when it came upon a frog. Looking up in awe at the frog, the worm began to compliment him on how magnificent he was.
“You don’t have to crawl around on the ground as I do because you have legs with which you can hop gracefully, also you have that beautiful skin which helps you camouflage yourself from your enemies, not to mention that wonderful tongue you have with which you can pluck insects right out of the air to feed yourself. I wish that I could be like you!” said the worm as he began to slowly wiggle his way once again, to his destination.
Hearing all of these compliments that had just been bestowed upon him, the frog was filled with pride. With an extra “jump” to his hop, he moved swiftly towards his nearby favorite pond to sip some water and scout for flies.
On his way to the pond, the frog came upon a turtle and stared at it with admiration. “Wow Mrs. Turtle,” the frog exclaimed, “you are truly wonderful! Just look at that thick shell you have. I bet that you can protect yourself from any predator, plus you can navigate in the water as well as on land. I wish that I were so lucky to be like you!” And with that, the frog hopped along to do more important things.
The turtle was also very proud to hear such wonderful things said about herself. Puffing with pride, she crawled into the waters of the pond and swam to the other side to check on her eggs.
When she arrived at the pond’s bank, Mrs. Turtle noticed a monkey that was resting nearby. “Good day, Mr. Monkey,” the turtle exclaimed. “Might I be so bald as to say that you are truly one of a kind, just look at that wonderful fur you have that protects you from the cold weather and you have those long legs and arms with which you swing around so stylishly from tree to tree. I just wish I could be like you!” And with that said, Mrs. Turtle hurried along to her nest.
The monkey gracefully jumped up into a nearby branch and began swinging from tree to tree showing off his agility until pretty soon he had disappeared into the thick foliage of the forest. As he moved deeper into the lush jungle, he came upon a beautiful white stallion. Stopping on a comfortable limb, the monkey watched the stallion with great admiration. “You are truly magnificent,” commented the monkey. “Just look at you; you’re beautiful to behold! And with those marvelously long legs, I bet you can get from one side of forest in no time at all. I wish that I had legs like yours.”
The stallion trotted off to join the rest of his herd, leaving the monkey to stare with admiration. But along the way, the stallion passed by a cheetah and…..
As you can see, this story doesn’t end. It just keeps going and going in a never ending cycle.
The lesson of this little parable is simple: We should all be happy with who we are because if we wish to be like someone else, chances are that same person also desires to be like someone else. So, just be proud to be who you are. And, besides, have you ever stopped to think that there is somebody out there that aspires to be just like you?
Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.
– Judy Garland
Have an AWE-full Weekend!
William J. “Bill” Bacqué