"THE FROGS"

I like this story very much! :-)

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and
two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how
deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as
good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried
to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs
kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.
Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs
were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could.
Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain
and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.
When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?"
The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they
were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An
encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up
and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be
what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross
your path. The power of words... it is sometimes hard to
understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way.

Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit
to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will
take the time to encourage another.
-- Author Unknown