Which frog?

There’s a story I was reminded of by Ananda Minister Nivritti at our meditation/study group this past week. It is a story told by Paramhansa Yogananda and one of my favorites so I’m going to share it with you here.

One day there were two frogs who were playing around in a barn and they jumped into a pail of milk. Uh-oh. The sides of the bucket were slippery and they discovered they couldn’t jump out of the pail. They swam and swam around in circles. Finally one of them said, “I can’t keep doing this. I’m too tired. I’m going to give up.” And he did. He sank to the bottom of the pail of milk and drowned.

The other frog was sad to lose his friend but said to himself, “There’s got to be a way out of here. I have to keep swimming.” He kept swimming round and round and then he felt something solid under his feet. He realized he could step on this and use it to jump out of the pail. He did and his life was saved. What had he stepped on? Butter - his swimming had turned the milk to butter.

The point of the story is, of course, to never give up. Just when things seem to be the most difficult or times seem the darkest, this is the time to keep swimming. Tell yourself, “Just one more lap.” For all you know, you’re making butter!