The Scorpion and the Frog

A fable about inherent nature. Retold by G.J.McLean Wisdom for Life. Once a upon time... A scorpion came upon a frog by the pond. Scorpion seems quite optimistic to frog. “Could you carry me to the other side? Enquired scorpion. Ever the optimist, frog wanted to be helpful, But was very concerned about that nature of Scorpion. “Surely you will sting me and we will both die?” Proclaimed frog, dismayed, but still optimistic. “Oh no, that would be silly of me!” Said Scorpion. “You can be sure I won’t sting you!” Ever the optimist, frog relented, discarding thoughts of Scorpions nature. “Ok then, hop on my back and ride.” Said frog. All seemed well as frog began to swim. Scorpion seemed happy, for a while. Suddenly, Scorpion stings frog, who cries out in anguish. “Why did you kill us!” As they both slide under, Scorpion says under failing breath, “It is my nature.” This fable speaks to INHERENT NATURE. Suggesting that human beings, as with all of nature, Is inherently fixed. People are incapable of transformation. While it is true that a PSYCHOPATH is born destructive, In fact a SOCIOPATH who has similar traits, Develops their behaviour through environmental influence. The NARCISSIST also becomes NARCISSISTIC Due to LEARNED BEHAVIOURS observed By parents and community. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY teaches that the human mind has PLASTICITY, Which is the capacity for neural pathways of the brain to be remapped. Modern traditions such as COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) have superseded NLP as a method to help people who are caught In behaviours relating to LIFE TRAUMA. We must learn as human beings that we are BIOCHEMICAL COMPUTERS Who are most susceptible to programming during early childhood. Many adult conditions exist as a result of the subtleties Of childhood experiences affecting adult behaviour. Where this understanding takes us is towards the recognition of my upgrade to the parable. Once upon a time... A scorpion came upon a frog by the pond. Scorpion seems quite optimistic to frog. “Could you carry me to the other side? Enquired scorpion. Ever the optimist, frog wanted to be helpful, But was very concerned about that nature of Scorpion. “Surely you will sting me and we will both die?” Proclaimed frog, dismayed, but still optimistic. “Oh no, that would be silly of me!” Said Scorpion. “You can be sure I won’t sting you!” Ever the realist, frog suggested, To sit around a campfire and discuss Scorpions nature. “My dear Scorpion, I am only a small frog, and your armour and pincers are heavy.” Said frog. “Oh I see.” Said Scorpion. “They are very heavy for me too.” As Scorpion began removing armour, frog noticed some green peeking through from underneath. “My dear Scorpion, how is that you are green, just like me?” Said frog. “Once long ago, I too was a frog.” Said Scorpion. Frog appeared perplexed and became curious. “How did you become a Scorpion?” “Once upon a time... I was swimming to the other side of life and I was stung very badly, so I found myself some armour and put on these pincers to protect myself. I am weary of being hurt and hurting people. I wish that I could go back to being a frog.” Frog was amazed at this confession. No wonder frog wanted to help Scorpion. Instinctively frog knew Scorpion was green underneath. “I have an idea.” Said frog. “Now that you have removed all your armour and your pincers and you are a frog again, why don’t I remind you how you can swim on your own again. Would you like to try being yourself again... without all the danger?” “I would love that very much!” Proclaimed Scorpion. Scorpion moved to the water. Put one little flipper in. Then smiled. And became frog again. All seemed well as frog began to swim. Scorpion seemed happy, for a while. Suddenly, Scorpion sings to frog, who cries out in happiness. “Why did you take so quickly to become one of us!” As they both slide gracefully over the water, Scorpion says under a happy breath, “It is my nature.” We may become pessimistic in life, because we expect of human nature to be dangerous. In fact, the biological computer of human beings was designed to protect us from monsters. Dinosaurs! Bears! Tigers! Sharks! And so we have the AMYGDALA system of the brain. Which is part of the LIMBIC SYSTEM that sends chemicals to the brain to trigger Flight or Fight response so that we RUN or FIGHT monsters. Harvard Business school conducted research into why it was that of two equivalent graduates, one was more successful than the other. The research revealed a startling result. That of two equally skilled graduates, the one with high emotional intelligence was on average 90% more likely to succeed than their colleagues. This is an amazing result. What this means is that EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE or the ability to SELF REGULATE EMOTIONS and develop INTER and INTRA PERSONNEL (people skills within an organisation and outside the organisation) is 90% more important than skill. Where this goes is that the practical ability to learn how to self regulate the biochemical responses is learned during childhood. Just as the Scorpion in my fable was once a frog, Many adults were once children. All trying to get to the other side of life. Human beings become traumatised by social injustices during childhood, that affect children well into adulthood. We perceive the one wearing ARMOUR and who has PINCERS as the enemy, for good reason. HURT PEOPLE, HURT PEOPLE and LOVED PEOPLE, LOVE PEOPLE. Yet TOUGH LOVE can assist the HURT PERSON to find SELF-LOVE and to reprocess the childhood hurt to find healing of the INNER CHILD. We can each assist this journey from scorpion back to frog, by helping the hurt individual to reintegrate their authentic identity and let go of the past hurts. An adult who has grown up without an example of love may not understand how to be loved to inform their self-love. In such a case, others must become like parents to the child. This is why so many women say about men, “I DON’T WANT ANOTHER CHILD!” Yet the modern women uniquely holds the power in her hands to transform MAN-KIND. Women have naturally high empathy, emotional insight and communication skills with which to guide men. Men must be guided back to their authenticity, but not through adversarial argument. It is not just men who exhibit narcissism. While there is much abuse of women, by men, there is an extraordinarily high suicide rate among men who become so distressed by the behaviour of women that they kill themselves. In Australia, 2.4 men per day kill themselves. We must understand that THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE IS NEGLECT. That if we are to become serious about what love is, it must be founded on COMPASSIONATE UNDERSTANDING, not just for our partner, but first for ourselves, then for our family, then our neighbours and community. But where and how do we learn to BECOME OF LOVE? Each person will seek their own example. Mother, Father, Sister, brother, friend. Grandparents. I would like to suggest that we draw wisdom for those who came before us. Whether Buddha, Jesus or mum or dad, the attributes of love as the same. If we are to heal each other, lets become like gardeners of each other’s hearts. Come to the garden of Hearts each day, water the flowers in Gods garden, With words of encouragement and praise. Patience. Kindness. Forgiveness. How we behave towards others, is the programming that they need to see. The lessons are learned through observing how we are, our peaceful way. Yet most of all, let us become beautiful people, who children look to. The kind of love that protects and serves every child to rise Up into life, a fully functional little froglet. Who has no need for armour. No need for pincers. That all scorpions might become frogs. With love. Xoxo Glyn