[FOUNTAIN]Counter fate with a frog in your heart

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[FOUNTAIN]Counter fate with a frog in your heart

The holiday season is the time we spend with friends and families. As we send off yet another year, we gratefully look back on the fruits of the past year.
The stories of people who overcome failure and adversity move us profoundly. A public servant-turned-businessman in his fifties has struggled for the last three years. Because of financial trouble, he was so devastated that he considered even the most extreme possibilities. Recently, his attitude changed completely when his wife handed him an illustration and said, “I love you.” He found hope, regained courage and now works harder than ever.
The illustration is about a stork by the wild lakeside, devouring a frog it has just captured. As the stork attempts to swallow the prey that the stork thought was dead, the frog stretches out his legs and begins to strangle the stork.
The bird is caught by the sudden attack, and it cannot breathe nor swallow. If there were a next scene, it would be a triumphant frog watching the fleeing stork, celebrating his escape from and imminent death.
The illustration has been put on the Internet by an anonymous Korean-American businessman along with his story of success. Whenever he is faced with difficulty and is exhausted, he gains courage and energy from the illustration. He recalled, “I used to be captivated by the guilt and sorrow that my mistakes would shadow the future of my parents and children.”
However, he asked what would have happened if he were in despair, and if he had not strangled the stork like the frog. He concludes, “Everyone should keep a frog in their heart.”
The businessman made a comeback by fighting a desperate situation, convincing himself that he would succeed, persuading people to help and encouraging and motivating his employees. To the struggling people in the world, he sends a message never to give up even when in the rough hands of fate.
His message enlightened the desperate people who were about to accept hardship as fate. As the businessman in his fifties explained the illustration at a year-end party, the attendants were moved by the story.
I was reminded of the saying, “Move over, fate. Here I come.” When you awaken, even fate will fear you.


by Chun Young-gi

The writer is a deputy political news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.
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