Two Frogs and Me

A poem that I grew up hearing is one that my dad has memorized. He would use it in talks and sometimes he would recite it just for fun if it popped into his head. It teaches a good lesson and it has stuck with me.

Two frogs fell in a bowl of cream,
One had an optimistic gleam,
The other took the gloomy view,

The poem begins by giving the characters that appear within it. There are two frogs and we could say that they each have different personalities. One is optimistic and the other is pessimistic. It also gives a setting for the tale, which is in a bowl of cream. Now I can’t say that I spent much time in a bowl of cream, come to think of it I don’t think I spent any time literally in a bowl of cream… The point is the frogs were in a less than agreeable situation and their personalities shone out. When I am in situations similar to the frogs, I try to stay positive because I’d like to think that my personality reflects a positive person.

“We’ll drown” he cried and without adieu,
Gave out one last despairing cry,
Flung up his legs and said goodbye,

 The pessimistic frog doesn’t even try to help himself or his friend. He simply gives up and accepts death right away. Sometimes giving up seems like the easy way to go but you don’t learn anything from it and you end up regretting it later.

Said the other frog with a steady grin,
“I can’t get out but I won’t give in!
I’ll just swim around until my strength is spent,
Then I will die the more content”,

The optimistic frog decides that if he must go it won’t be without a fight. He knows that trying will take work but if it doesn’t work out he can at least say he tried. I remember times in my life when giving up would have been “easier” but I didn’t and I am so glad about it! One such time was when I was taking piano lessons, I wasn’t really found of my teacher and it was difficult. I told my mom that I wanted to quit and she said “Okay, but I want you to listen to some of this music and to the story of the person who wrote it.” I listened to the music and the story and decided that I didn’t want to quit; I just wanted a different teacher. I switched teachers, continued playing, and went on to learn some of the songs by that composer. I even got to meet him. (It's Paul Cardall)

He swam around ‘til it would seem,
His struggles began to churn the cream,
On top of butter at last he stopped,
And out of the bowl he gaily hopped,

What of the moral? It’s easily found: 

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

The frog might not have believed at first that swimming around could get him out of the cream, but once he saw how it got thicker as he kept swimming he probably was excited which kept him going long enough to get out. So this poem has taught me that when life gets hard I just need to stay optimistic and push through the storm clouds with faith that everything will be alright.

For those who want to read the whole thing through:

Two frogs fell in a bowl of cream,
One had an optimistic gleam,
The other took the gloomy view,
“We’ll drown” he cried and without adieu,
Gave out one last despairing cry,
Flung up his legs and said goodbye,
Said the other frog with a steady grin,
“I can’t get out but I won’t give in!
I’ll just swim around until my strength is spent,
Then I will die the more content”,
He swam around ‘til it would seem,
His struggles began to churn the cream,
On top of butter at last he stopped,
And out of the bowl he gaily hopped,
What of the moral? It’s easily found:
If you can’t get out, keep swimming around.
(Author Unknown)