There was once a big group of frogs that arranged a hopping competition.
The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.
The race began with hundreds of frogs of all sizes, madly hopping up the steps of the tower.
Actually, no one in the crowd believed that any of the frogs would reach the top of the tower – it was just way too high.
They said things like, “Man, that’s a tall tower!” and “No Way any frog can hop all the way up there!”
And, sure enough, some of the frogs couldn’t even hop up the first few steps before collapsing. But, some kept hopping higher.
The crowd continued to yell, “It’s too difficult! No one will make it!” And, still more of the frogs got tired and stopped.
Now, there were only a few frogs continuing upwards. The crowd yelled, “Those steps are too hard. The sun is shining too hot. They have to turn back!” And, sure enough, all the frogs finally turned around, having failed to reach the top.
All except one – one very tiny, very determined little frog. He continued to hop, hop, hop up stair after stair until he finally found himself at the very top, all alone, looking down at the crowd far below.
The crowd waved and cheered and he waved back. Then, he hopped back down to the ground – which was much easier than hopping up.
When he got to the bottom, everyone crowded around him and asked, “HOW did you do it?” “You’re so small, where did you get the strength?” “How did you out hop all these other frogs?”
And, the frog just said, “EH? What’s that?” – he was deaf.
[To reach your goals, you need to ignore the pessimism of others and believe in yourself]
