Frogs

Frogs in a Well

We huddle together and stare up above.
The white and the blue gleaming down.
We look all around us and darkness we see,
Total tranquility astound.

"Are we ready?" I ask, "or wait one more day?"
They turn and undoubtfully frown
Poised and ready, we climb to the top,

From the corner the snakes make no sound.


We've all heard of the frog in the well story, of how a little frog lives happily in his well, protected and fed, far away from the dangers out above. The moral being that this frog is too narrow minded, missing out on the opportunities above. In a certain way, this fable does make sense. We must embrace opportunities and not be simply satisfied by what we have around us. However, i like to bring a different connotation to this analogy. That we are beginning to take the protection of the well for granted. In an overly-zealous mind to take over the world, we start crumbling back into the well. Its a sad situation, and it is happening.

I was having coffee alone just 2 days ago, black with sugar, no milk. I was doing mindmaps for a module, sipping coffee and smoking. Then this group of young-ish boys came and occupied the table next to me. Ordered their drinks and began talking, needless to say, i was listening. They were talking about the future, starting a business, making it big, earning figures in tens of thousands. I was impressed, made my $2300 a month look like ear-wax. Then the conversation got interesting, a debate started.

A : That's why i hang out with people with brains

B : Innovation, thats how to make money

C : So how long do you intend to work before starting this?

A : Work, you mean be a salaried worker?

B : Ya, get experience, 5, 6 may 10 years?

A : (aggitated) I am not going to be tied down by a job that requires me to wake at 8 and end at 5

B : Friend, you think doing your own business allows you to start at 11 and finish at 3, then bum around for the rest of the day

A : Yes, you know what i want to be doing at 9 in the morning, i want to be at a golf course, and at 5 i want to be having a massage before dinner in my boat. Not trying to be rude, look at our parents, 40, 50+ and still working, i want to freaking enjoy my life then.

B : Then your kids? Eat grass?

A : I will not just sit back and let my kids enjoy my wealth, i will give them the necessities, one car, one house, some money thats it.

(big dreams huh? here's where it simply crashes)

B : So can work?

A : Can. Take about 1oo, 200 grand from our parents should be ok. You sure your connections good?

B : Ey, my mother knows everyone, she can pull us in and get all the admin stuff

A : Ok! Big risk. Big money.

Risk? Where's the risk in this? I love the part when he said "I will not just sit back and let my kids enjoy my wealth". Best part is that it's going to be an accountancy firm, classic example of ignorance. And this is just one of the many examples i've seen of today's youth. Blinded by wonderful aspirations built upon achievements of predecessors, their parents. Now, hard work and long hours don't mean a successful life. The fundemental perception of success is distorted, Maslow's heirarchy of needs continues to be bombarded by arguements. New world theorist write literature that Generation Y, 20-30 yr olds, are motivated by achievment rather than physiologicals. Young graduates enter the workforce jobless because employers cannot meet the demanded salary. Why???

Because the well has served it's purpose too well. The well had been constructed through hard work, sweat and blood. Layer upon layer of brick and cement, ultimately creating the foundations of a sanctuary. Here we are bred, nurtured and energised to one day leap out of the well and build one for our own. Blinded by the assumptions formed from the fortified nature of upbringing, we face the snakes, only to come running back to where we know is safe, our well.

I use we very openly, and I believe to a certain extent that the upcoming generations are being overly protected. I always ask, "what if there was nothing, would you still dream the way you do?"

Blinded

To see Fire as fuel and not something that burns
To see Water as a drink and not something that drowns
To see Lightning as beauty and not something that kills

To see Life as yours, when it is actually given

Epilogue

Take two steps forward then one step back,
Two for ambition and one for its fact
-me