Midweek Musings-30
The Enemy is Egotism
There is an old fable that has made its way into the folklore of cultures across the world. It tells of two ducks and a frog who lived together in a pond and who were the best of friends. But as the hot summer days came, the pond began to dry up, and soon there was such little water left in the pond that they all realised that they would have to move. Now the ducks could easily fly to another place, but what about their friend the frog?
Finally it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck, & then the frog would hang onto the stick with his mouth & they would fly him to another pond. And so they did.
As they were flying, a farmer out in his field looked up & saw them & said, “Well, isn’t that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it!”
The frog said, “I did …”
The tragicomic fable’s warning about the dangers of egotism is an important one.
According to Holiday, egotism is the enemy of mastering a skill, of creative insight, of working well with others, of building true loyalty and support, or repeating and retaining success.
Holiday suggests that the best way to avoid the egotism trap is to be open to seeing the world as others see it, to genuinely share credit with others when we experience success, and to cultivate strength and fortitude so that, when things go wrong, we don’t find ourselves wrecked by failure.
It might take a lifetime to learn to do that, but in the interests of a happy, fulfilling and successful life, it is well worth the effort.
Have a great week!
Team Anahat
