By Usman
Once upon a time there were five frogs and they were playing around. They were in an open field and jumping around after one another, playing their own frog version of hide and seek, and were very happy enjoying their free leisure time to play this fun game. Of these five frogs, three were quite young and were not as strong as the other two were. While playing they lost track of where they were, and moved further and further from their homes, with the two larger frogs leading the way. They were trying to catch each other and trying to lose the opponent team but suddenly the three infant frogs fell into a pit and they knew they were in a bad situation. They were trying their best to jump out from the pit but in vain on their first and second attempts. The two big frogs, seeing everything that was happening from their position at the top of the pit, were worried but they were powerless to do anything for them.
They did their best to encourage the younger frogs and to keep them motivated to continue their efforts to jump out from the pit. At the same time, while two of the frogs kept crying about their situation, one kept trying over and over again to jump out of the pit, while the other two had tried, but now had given up hope. In time, their failure to escape this pit caused them to give up, surrender to the fate they believe had been bestowed on them and drowned in the water that lay at the bottom of the pit. The one young frog that was left, saw what was happening to his friends, and he reached deep inside his frog heart, and found the courage to continue trying to escape from this death trap. The two big frogs became sad when they saw the two young frogs had given up and drowned.
The one frog that was left, finding this renewed energy, the self-belief that came from deep inside, jumped again and again, finally touching the brim of the pit. Though he was still not successful, when he thought about his friends that had given up, and what had happened to them, it re-lit this burst of energy and with a final push of his legs, he jumped over the brim of the pit, and landed next to the two big frogs. Laying there, exhausted from his efforts, he could see his young friends, far down below, and while he felt a sense of mourning for their deaths, he also felt a strong sense of achievement, that he had not given in to the temptation to quit or surrender.
The two big frogs were overcome with joy, and though also saddened with the death of the two younger frogs, warmly embraced the younger frog and asked this very simple question: “what encouraged you to keep trying, what made you not give up”? His simple response was “Every failure is a step closer to success”.